For this weeks comment or question, I will be discussing the video presentation by Denis Dutton. Dutton’s TED talk was on the subject of A Darwinian theory of beauty. A topic that really struck me was the fact that when some of these objects were made the species making them didn’t use language. Dutton mentions this in his talk, “The people that made the objects in that day didn’t use language. Objects were made between 50,000 and 100,000 years before language was created.“ My question for the week stems from this thought. My question is I would like to pose to the class is: How were ideas conveyed between the species without the use of language? Dutton states, “It’s hard to grasp, but it’s an incredible fact.” Given the world we live in now, with all the technological and communication advances, this notion of communicating without using language seems impossible.

Although the ways in which we convey ideas have changed, there are still some ways of thinking that haven’t. Similarly to so many things in the world that change, the ways and forms of communication have changed such as storytelling and dancing turning into cell phone and social media use. However, Dutton goes on in his talk to explain some ways of thinking that haven’t changed over time. For example, “One fundamental trait of the ancestral personality persists in our aesthetic cravings, which is the beauty we find in skilled performances.” Dutton uses some examples, “From the Lascaux, the Louvre, and Carnegie hall,” to illustrate objects that have been admired for many of years. Applying this way of thinking to modern day is interesting because our society definitely still thinks in this way. Talking about sports for example, fans love to watch their favorite team or player put on a skilled performance. Dutton mentions in the talk that, “We find beauty in something done well.” The admiration of a job well done is still present and rings true to this day. Our ancestors might have used pictures or some other way to communicate, but the messages they were conveying are still prevalent in our society today.

 

Source- Video Presentation: Denis Dutton, A Darwinian theory of beauty.