Language Blog

Not being able to speak in a conversation for two was not as easy as I thought it would be. There were many times I had to catch myself from verbally communicating the point I wanted to get across. I found it increasingly difficult to express myself when asked anything that required more than a yes or no answer. It was easy to see that in response to my lack of verbal communication, my partner found herself “dumbing” down the conversation as it was quite apparent we would not be delving into the theory of relativity. I can only compare this part of the language experiment to a game of Charades. What followed every thought or response I put forth (non-verbally, of course) was yet another round of questions, “Did you mean…?” and “Are our 15 minutes up yet?”

In my opinion, the culture with the ability to use verbal language would have a greater advantage over those who don’t. With a much broader range of words to choose from, thoughts and ideas can be expressed more freely. When dependent upon the use of physical movements and facial expressions only, one is severely limited at the ability to communicate. As I experienced with my speaking partner “dumbing” down the conversation, I could easily see how a speaking culture might consider the non-speaking culture inferior and less intelligent. This can be seen when dealing with people who may not use English as their first language. I’ve been witness to conversations whereas the ones speaking to others not as familiar with English begin speaking slower and sometimes even raising their voices as if the idea of yelling might portray their message better.

Spending 15 minutes as a robot was much more difficult than I could have anticipated. Feeling relieved at the prospect of being able to communicate verbally was a comforting thought…until I actually tried it. Even giving an example of what I was trying to do tripped me up as it was just too natural and habitual for me to use inflexion in my voice. As far as the effect this experiment had on my partner, let’s just say she had quite a difficult time keeping a straight face. After a few minutes, it was very difficult for her to take me seriously. I can only conclude that physical communication and verbal communication are both complimentary to one another. Without one or the other, it is not easy to fully convey your thoughts and ideas.

And sure, there are plenty of people incapable of reading body language. I can think of at least a dozen bad dates where my desire to leave and cut things short went completely unnoticed by gentlemen who thought that “this was the Best. Date. Ever.”

Piltdown Hoax

In 1908, a skull was uncovered by a laborer in the southern English village of Piltdown. That skull was passed along to amateur geologist, Charles Dawsin. Seeing the potential of such a find, Dawson continued searching Piltdown for further archeological finds.

By mid-1912, Dawson, along with England’s leading geologist at the Natural History Museum, Sir Arthur Smith Woodward, had discovered a portion of the missing lower jawbone. Dawson and Woodward presented their finds to the Royal Geological Society on December 18, 1912. Dawson and Woodward’s fellow scientists were equally pleased to have finally found the missing link between apes and humans.

However, despite overall acceptance of the find, there were serious doubts to the authenticity of such a discovery. Questions were raised over the appearance of a mismatch between the jaw and skull bones. Also, without a canine tooth to prove its authenticity, questions continued to linger. That is, until Dawson found the supposed canine tooth a year later.

In 1917, Dawson unearthed what he claimed to have been a second Piltdown man just a few miles from the original dig. This find, in conjunction with the missing canine tooth and the flawless reputation of esteemed geologist Woodward, ensured that any lingering doubts would be laid to rest.

By the 1920’s, fossils had been found in Asia and Africa that suggested the Piltdown Man may not be what he had first been perceived. The bones from Piltdown just did not match the bones found elsewhere. In fact, the bones found in Asia and Africa had lived long after Piltdown Man and yet appeared less human.

It wasn’t until 1949 that the first real testing was done on the fossils from Piltdown. A fluorine test was administered which showed that the bones were not ½ a million years old, but rather, 100,000 years old. A full scale analysis wasn’t conducted until 1953 when Kenneth Oakley used a chemical test on the skull and jaw. At such time it was discovered that the bones had been stained artificially and cut with a steel knife and that the teeth had been filed down to resemble teeth with human wear patterns. It was finally discovered that the jaw bone was that of a female orangutan from less than 100 years earlier.

Not only were scientists outraged by the discovery of Dawson’s fraud but the English mostly were embarrassed that they had been fooled and for so long. Dawson was denounced as a phony and it was later found that all of his other archeological finds had also been forged. He has even been compared to the primate he so eagerly tried to pass off as human.

Unfortunately, due to human pride and national patriotism, the English were quick to dismiss any questions and willingly accept presumptions made regarding the skull and jaw found by Dawson from the get-go. Up until that point, the field of science had been thought to only include scholars and gentleman.

The Piltdown hoax succeeded in bringing to light that such forgery could happen to anyone, anywhere and in that way was a lesson that needed to be taught. From there on out, scientists were more alert to the dangers of fraud, which, despite having led most astray for over 40 years probably helped them gain insight and learn more about trusting blindly based on reputation and ego.

While I feel it is nearly impossible to remove the “human” factor from science, it is essential to come as close as possible to help eliminate further episodes, such as the Piltdown hoax, from happening in the future.