The meaning of being in the herd can be quite diffuse. It could refer to a radio program broadcast in the USA and presented by a man called Colin Cowherd. In this case the pun on the words 'herd' and the homophone 'heard' adds extra meaning through wit. However, many scientists toil ceaselessly to understand the behavior of creatures that are born in crowds or tight knit social groups that define who they are.
Not many years ago portable radios were new technological inventions that were snapped up by buyers who were as eager then as buyers are now to catch the latest smart phone to come on the market. It was no longer necessary to huddle around a massive chest in the living room listening to the crackling voice of a war time leader. Instead, one could take a handy cassette with many buttons out into a workshop or even depart on a fishing trip together with a radio that could keep them in touch with the international community.
The word podcast will not be found in a dictionary published in 1982. Nevertheless it is widely understood in 2012 to mean spoken messages or music sent through computer rather than radio channels. With the relegation of many portable radio sets either to museums or to outside storage sheds podcasts seem to be a way forward for the presenters of messages through the primary medium of sound.
The earliest mass communication methods were often described in terms of a model. This include a sender and a receiver, In between them were a message and a channel. All were subject to interference. This model proved extremely versatile and can still be used to describe how a person hiking in Africa can watch out for snakes whilst listening to a cricket commentary from London.
Ancient hunters might feasibly have had as good or better understanding of animal communications systems as contemporary scientists. Unfortunately their insights were not recorded in writing but in images that are probably not fully understood. It is also probable that their priorities were different in that they were intent on killing whereas most people are now concerned with conserving the few wild animals that remain as things to wonder at rather than kill.
One remarkable discovery is that elephants seem to have had complex communication systems throughout the centuries, since long before human beings discovered how to create similar artificial methods. Whales have even more long distance systems and are thought to be able send and receive messages from around the world in a way that is not entirely dissimilar to the Internet.
Group communication systems among what are regarded as lower life forms such as ants, bees and birds are also being discovered to be much more complex than previously know. In fact some philosophers have begun to argue that is actually the lack of capabilities that have forced human beings to the top of the evolutionary tree.
The instinct to live in groups seems common to species that do survive better than solitary creatures like endangered tigers and polar bears. Some human beings are instinctively loners, especially if they have known solitude during their formative years. Though such solitary people usually are happy with their own company and enjoy being habitually alone there remains a deep instinct in most of them to be, at least for a limited time, in the herd.
Not many years ago portable radios were new technological inventions that were snapped up by buyers who were as eager then as buyers are now to catch the latest smart phone to come on the market. It was no longer necessary to huddle around a massive chest in the living room listening to the crackling voice of a war time leader. Instead, one could take a handy cassette with many buttons out into a workshop or even depart on a fishing trip together with a radio that could keep them in touch with the international community.
The word podcast will not be found in a dictionary published in 1982. Nevertheless it is widely understood in 2012 to mean spoken messages or music sent through computer rather than radio channels. With the relegation of many portable radio sets either to museums or to outside storage sheds podcasts seem to be a way forward for the presenters of messages through the primary medium of sound.
The earliest mass communication methods were often described in terms of a model. This include a sender and a receiver, In between them were a message and a channel. All were subject to interference. This model proved extremely versatile and can still be used to describe how a person hiking in Africa can watch out for snakes whilst listening to a cricket commentary from London.
Ancient hunters might feasibly have had as good or better understanding of animal communications systems as contemporary scientists. Unfortunately their insights were not recorded in writing but in images that are probably not fully understood. It is also probable that their priorities were different in that they were intent on killing whereas most people are now concerned with conserving the few wild animals that remain as things to wonder at rather than kill.
One remarkable discovery is that elephants seem to have had complex communication systems throughout the centuries, since long before human beings discovered how to create similar artificial methods. Whales have even more long distance systems and are thought to be able send and receive messages from around the world in a way that is not entirely dissimilar to the Internet.
Group communication systems among what are regarded as lower life forms such as ants, bees and birds are also being discovered to be much more complex than previously know. In fact some philosophers have begun to argue that is actually the lack of capabilities that have forced human beings to the top of the evolutionary tree.
The instinct to live in groups seems common to species that do survive better than solitary creatures like endangered tigers and polar bears. Some human beings are instinctively loners, especially if they have known solitude during their formative years. Though such solitary people usually are happy with their own company and enjoy being habitually alone there remains a deep instinct in most of them to be, at least for a limited time, in the herd.
No comments:
Post a Comment