lyo evolution: the ages and tomorrow 



well-being, four for states of displeasure and illness, four for 

 indifferent intermediates, and one for a state of great excite- 

 ment. Of course, these vocalizations do not have value as 

 words, but they do convey notions of agreeable, disagree- 

 able, of dangerous situations; they form a "pseudo-language" 

 which informs concerning a state of mind or communicates 

 an emotional tone. Anthropologists would say that "gibbon 

 talk" is like a social hormone; it unifies group action. Gib- 

 bons stamp their feet and scream with anger, and so do we. 

 Gibbons dance about and chatter with pleasant sounds when 

 joyful, and so do we. There is much human communication 

 that transmits fantasy and not fact, that is emotional, that 

 gives the feeling communication has taken place when it has 

 not; and it is to be found in the language of some poets, ad- 

 vertisers, politicians, philosophers, and theologians, to list 

 but a few. 



Man enjoys his fantasies, his emotional vocalizing, his lan- 

 guage of love and poetic expression. But as the modem 

 semanticist sees it, more often than not man is led into 

 deeply "false to fact" orientations. He has not acquired a 

 real mastery over the usage of words or a true understand- 

 ing of the great power they exercise over him. In many in- 

 stances he is still close to the savage in speech, and he is still 

 struggling to overcome the maladaptations his grammar and 

 syntax have brought upon him. The relationship between 

 man and his words is extremely important and will be re- 

 viewed in Chapter 1 3 when we evaluate the contribution of 

 semantics to man's over-all problem of finding means by 

 which he may control his destiny and through which he 

 may extend the horizons of knowledge. 



The purpose of this chapter has been to show the evolu- 

 tionary continuity of conceptual thought. At the same time 

 one must not overlook the tremendous degree of difference 

 between man and other animals in the use of this power of 

 the mind, particularly those human individuals with the ex- 

 traordinary gift we call genius— the great mathematicians, 

 musical composers, philosophers, and scientists. Even here, 



