The Impact of Language

After reading a debate about the power of language, I realized how significant the role of language was in the progression of mankind. In fact, I think language is the most essential creation in all of world history.

During the era of hunting and gathering societies, language was not very complex yet, but humans had a system of communication which allowed them to coordinate attacks on prey efficiently. The method of communication also allowed humans to spread the practice of farming throughout their tribe and to other tribes they met. The increased amount of food produced by coordinated attacks yielded population growth and farming caused population growth too, but also made societies settle in permanent locations. The permanent settlement of large populations caused the emergence of the first cities.

Communication through trade diffused several ideas and goods around the world. One example of a good diffused was gunpowder which reached Europe through the silk road during the mongols pacification of Asia because the Europeans had a rich history of communicating with the Chinese for trade on the silk road. Also, Indian merchants communicated with Italian merchants allowing the Indians to learn that the Europeans desired spice which prompted the diffusion of several different exotic spices from southeast Asia to the Mediterranean. An idea diffused were Arabic numerals which spread to the Arabians from India during their conquest of India and later reached Europe through the trade Europeans conducted with Arabian intermediaries to get Indian spices and textiles. In addition, the practice of Islam spread throughout Sub-Saharan Africa when north African and Arabian merchants conversed about which goods they could give the Sub-Saharan Africans for their gold.

Differences in language also helped change the course of world history. In the 19th century, the American and Mexican Governments poorly communicated, partly due to difference in language, causing the Americans to think the border between Mexico and the U.S. was at the Rio Grande River while the Mexicans thought it was at the Nueces River. Thus when the american army crossed the Nueces River the Mexicans fired upon them starting the Mexican-American War. Difference in language also prompted Spanish Missionaries to force native Americans to live in Missions, so the Missionaries could teach them Spanish which would allow them to tell the natives about Christianity.

Language allowed for the creation of written language because all the speakers of the language could tell each other what all the letters and symbols meant. Written language which was created through communication had several impacts of its own. Written language made the creation of books possible which inspired creativity in humans and peaked their interest in certain things. Marco Polo's book about his adventures in Asia made Europeans interested in finding a sea route around Africa to Asia, and Shakespeare was inspired by other playwrights and books when creating his plays. Also, written language allowed laws to be better enforced because they were written on paper making it nearly impossible to deny or distort them. Lastly, books and language allowed for the diffusion of ideas across large amounts of time. For example, the Arabians took the works of Greek Philosophers and translated them into Arabic which preserved them. Eventually, the Europeans would translate the Arabic writings into their own language which would allow the enlightenment thinkers to come up with the ideas that inspired the Revolutions in America. Humans were able to translate foreign writings into their own due to their familiarity with the people in trade or the use of a native speaker.

I think it's evident that language is the most important factor in world history. Do you agree? Or do you think another factor was more essential?    
-Mark Young