[WSMDiscuss] [REDlistserve] Exploring indigenous cognitive system -Visions of knowledge systems for life on Earth

[Jinan K B]

Ariel

'We'  are the literates and 'they' are the illiterates.
The impact of literacy on our consciousness is I feel the most
important but neglected aspect as it is what makes us- the literates
anthropocentric.

It is like this. The literates learn the WORD and the illiterates
learn the WORLD.  Consequently, we are shaped by the word, and
illiterates are shaped by the world. This produces two ways of being-
one structured and engineered by the structure of written language-
linear, sequential, fragmented, and so on. When we talk about language
it is good to keep in mind that we literates have a very different
type of language than the illiterates. Illiterates’ language is
experiential, contextual, and is used as a secondary cognitive source
whereas for us written language is our primary cognitive source, it is
more or less conceptual and so on….

There is two fundamental difference between indigenous cultures and
modernity. Because there is no readymade knowledge among indigenous
cultures there is neither the act of teaching nor are they in the
realm of ‘known’. ‘UNKNOWN’ as cognitive condition totally shapes
their beingness in one way and us being in the realm of the ‘KNOWN’
shapes us in a different way. The same is the case with the act of
teaching.

The very structure of modern, educated mindset is linear as well as
anthropocentric because we are trapped into the structure of written
language. The final frontier where language can take us is to
understand its limits. The same is the case with conscious reasoning.
What the written language has instilled in the modern mindset is
linearity, the tendency for fragmenting and compartmentalizing,
creation of hierarchy, exclusion, inclusion as an afterthought,
appropriation and reduction into linearity, establishment of
superiority complex, constant need to repair and help, deficit
syndrome, confidence, fear of unknown, control and plan, comparison,
competition and so on.

The role and the nature of language have undergone fundamental change
due to us engaging with the written word.
Written language totally reshapes our physiological functioning as
well it rewires the natural cognitive system. As the brain of children
is very pliable early exposure to written language not only shapes the
cognitive process but also the very cognitive foundation. We take away
the two most important things from children by this. The real world as
a cognitive source as well as the realm of the unknown as the
cognitive condition- which means cognitive autonomy.

The most unintended damage that we do to children is by taking on the
role of the teacher in a most obvious way. We also feel superior to
children.

We have lost the subtlety and sensitivity in our need for ‘clarity. In
fact, we are really not looking for true clarity but we are seeking
certainty as that would give us a sense of control. We do not know how
to be with children without imposing ourselves.

The role and nature of the language of illiterate people are very
different from the way we use it. Their language is out and out
experiential, contextual, verb centric due to their process
orientation and enables them to be established in the present moment.
Whereas modern man’s language is conceptual, jargonistic, noun
centric, even egocentric and makes us constantly absent to the
context.

We, the ‘modern’ people have a total distrust of our senses and
experience without ever using it properly.

(I am sorry that I am not in a position to respond properly as I am in
a hospital with some minor issues)
I am sharing a link to a webinar I held last year on Why, What, and
How Children Learn?
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAY_t0Ad0Ew&t=4225s

Jinan
jinankb.in




On 26/04/2021, Ariel Salleh <arielsalleh7 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>
>
> Jinan
> I’ll look forward to reading your site. One question though - Who is the
> ‘We' below?
>
> It is worth acknowledging that Western/Eurocentric modernist cognitive
> practices are not monolithic.
> Most women - North and South, like the marginalised indigenous peoples you
> mention - already use more holistic cognitive approaches.
>
> Maybe have a look at the extended political discussion of non-linear
> cognition and relational ethics in Ecofeminism as Politics (1997).
> Best
> Ariel
>
>
>
>
> Ariel Salleh writer/activist, Sydney
> Founding Member
> Global Univ. for Sustainability, HK
> Visiting Professor
> Nelson Mandela University, SA
> Email:       arielsalleh7 at gmail.com <mailto:arielsalleh7 at gmail.com>
> Website:        www.arielsalleh.info <http://www.arielsalleh.info/>
>
> Recent
> 'An Embodied Materialist Sociology' in Bell et al, ed, Cambridge Handbook of
> Environmental Sociology.
>
> 'Holding’ in Camilleri & Guess, ed, Towards a Just and Sustainable Peace.
>
> 'A Materialist Ecofeminist Reads the Green Economy’ in Hosseini et al, ed,
> Transformative Global Studies.
>
> Kothari, Salleh, Escobar, Demaria, & Acosta, ed, Pluriverse: A
> Post-Development Dictionary.
>
>
>
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>
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>
>
> On 23 Apr 2021, at 11:39 AM, Jinan K B <jinankb at gmail.com
> <mailto:jinankb at gmail.com>> wrote:
>
> Friends
>
> Inviting for a discussion at academia site to explore the Potential of
> indigenous cognitive paradigm to address the crisis of modernity. But
> the catch is whether we, who are linear, fragmented, and
> compartmentalized would be able to truly grasp the sequential,
> integral and wholistic nature of indigenous beingness. We are very
> good at reduction and appropriation and fitting everything into our
> frame of reference. How would be able to get outside our own matrix?
>
> ABSTRACT
> Modern humans are desperately looking for solutions to the mess we
> have created and unfortunately all that falls within the alienated
> paradigm of knowing and being. The only way is to understand the
> paradigm of sustainability created by indigenous communities all over
> the world. But there is a catch. Would it be possible for the linear,
> fragmented compartmentalized mindset to comprehend the wholistic
> aspect of indigenous systems without turning that into the linear
> format? It is clear from the word ‘systems thinking’ that we have
> missed the point. This expression is an oxymoron as ‘thinking’ is
> linear.
> So, the catch is can we know without thinking?
>
> There is a need to revisit why what how children learn the REAL WORLD
> autonomously to understand how we got fragmented…..
>
> Link https://www.academia.edu/s/e36bae7bf3
> <https://www.academia.edu/s/e36bae7bf3>
> --
> Jinan,
> TEXT DISTORTS, DIGITAL DESTROYS, WORLD AWAKENS
> http://kbjinan.in/ <http://kbjinan.in/> <http://jinankb.in/
> <http://jinankb.in/>>
> http://ekfoundation.in/ <http://ekfoundation.in/>
> https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC80rT8Zj1EE8TrzD3UreYfQ
> <https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC80rT8Zj1EE8TrzD3UreYfQ>
> www.re-cognition.org
> https://independent.academia.edu/JinanKodapully
> 09447121544
>
>
>
>
>
>


-- 
Jinan,
TEXT DISTORTS, DIGITAL DESTROYS, WORLD AWAKENS
http://kbjinan.in/ <http://jinankb.in/>
http://ekfoundation.in/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC80rT8Zj1EE8TrzD3UreYfQ
www.re-cognition.org
https://independent.academia.edu/JinanKodapully
09447121544