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Flixe Godin
EAE 4U
Friday, July 29, 2016
How can language empower us to understand,
question and change our world?
The Canadian author Margaret Atwood once said a world after a world after a
world is power, but how is this relevant? It is fair to say that language can be really
powerful when it comes to communicate and spread a message, but it is not the only
accomplishment that it can do. In fact, language can affect someones perceptions and
help him to understand the world he lives in as well as question it, and change it.
Language is one of the most powerful tool that have been giving to mankind.
Indeed, language is the reason why our world is the way it is, because it has
affected the development of the humanity. As a matter of fact, Mark Pagel, an
evolutionary biologist, demonstrated this thesis during his TED talk. He explained that if
we go back in history to the monkeys and Neanderthals, they were both using a rock to
crack open nuts, but the difference was that Neanderthals had improved their rocks by
changing their shapes so that the rocks fit perfectly in their hands. Neanderthals were
more evolved species of their period, but they did not have the ability of social learning, a
process in which individuals observe the behavior of others and its consequences to
modify their own behavior accordingly. In fact, throughout the years that they ruled the
world, the Neanderthals themselves did not evolved. They used the same rocks and they
only populated the West of Eurasia, because it was only environment they were adapted
to. After the Neanderthals, it was the period of the Cro-Magnons. As you probably

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already figured out, they were more developed than the Neanderthals. In fact, they had
the ability of social learning, which helped them to develop a cumulative cultural
evolution. This new acquisition brought an important dilemma, that would determine not
only the future course of our psychology, but also the future course of the entire world. In
fact, social learning brought the issues of a visual thief, which means that someone could
take credit for something that he didnt came up with, everybody could steal someones
ideas. Fortunately, the development of language came and solved this crisis. Language
transformed the humanity, because it also allowed them to share ideas and to cooperate
amongst others. They accumulated knowledge and wisdom from each others. The
exploitation of cooperation and exchanges changed the world and made it evolved. The
use of language helped them for researching agreements, taking decisions, making deals,
and coordinating their activities. Language gave them the opportunities to mankind that
they couldnt have before their acquisition of language. Indeed, it allows them to put their
ideas together and cooperate to have a prosperity, and it also permitted them to gradually
expand their territory. Now where as other species are confined to places that their
genes adapt them to, with social learning and language, we could transform the
environment to suit our needs Language really is the most potent trait that has ever
evolved. It is the most valuable trait we have for converting new lands and resources into
more people and their genes than natural selection has ever devised. Language really is
the voice of our genes (Pagel). Language gave them the ability to modify their
environment in order to suit their needs. If we take a look at our society, the humans race
occupies almost the totality of Earth. We are the most evolved species that ever had
populated the planet. We developed new technologies and expand our settlement area.

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When we take a look at the history of language, it allows us to understand why our world
is the way we are. If we would never acquire the ability of language, we would still be
cracking nuts with rocks just like the monkeys and the Neanderthals did. We can deduce
that language is the most important tool that mankind possesses when it comes to develop
our society.
Furthermore, language is an amazing device that can be used in various way. In
orals or in prints and texts, language can affect our perceptions and make us question our
environment, values and more. In fact, language allows us to implant a thought from
our mind directly into someone elses mind (Pagel). In literature, there are many ways
for authors to use their words to implant an idea in the readers mind. For example, when
a novel ends with an open door, it allows the reader to reflect on his reading and forces
the readers to question his knowledge, or when an author contradicts some popular
thoughts. In fact, if we take the popular thought about the different languages that exist
all around the world, people think that the diversity is a good thing, but what if it was
not? Like Mark Pagel explained during his TED talk, if we take the Tower of Babel story
in the Bible. This story is a warning about the power of language. Indeed, the humans
used their language to work together in order to create a tower that leads to Heaven. God
was angry and destroyed the tower and to ensure that it would never be rebuilt, he
scattered the people by giving them different languages confused them by giving them
different languages. And this leads to the wonderful irony that our languages exist to
prevent us from communicating (Pagel). This goes against the popular flow and forces
to question our knowledge. Would the world be better if there was only one language, or

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the diversity has a significant importance on our society? This is one example of our
language can empower us to question our world.
Finally, language can also change our world. Indeed, authors use language to
denounce situations in order to see a change. For example, Malala Yousafzai wrote a
bibliographic novel to tell her story. In fact, she was shot by a Taliban, because she stood
up for education. Malala used her story to denounce the issue about the childrens
education all around the world. Let us pick up our books and our pens. They are our
most powerful weapons. One child, one teacher, one book and one pen can change the
world (Yousafzai 310). She wrote a book, gave speeches, started a petition and created
the Malala fund, which is a fund established in order to ensure that tangible results are
reached in the fight for the access to education, to denounce this crisis. Her words of
wisdom transformed our world because after she delivered her speech, the United
Nations committed to provide education to all children in the world. This is an example
of how language can change our world.
In conclusion, it is fair to say that language is the most powerful tool that
humankind has. It can have a significant impact on our thoughts and perceptions. It not
only helps us to understand the world we live in but also pushes us to question it.
Language has transformed and changed our world in order to make it better.

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Work Cited
1- PAGEL, Mark. How Language Transformed Humanity, TED Global, 2011,
Lecture.
2- YOUSAFZAI, Malala. I Am Malala, Salarzai Limited, 2013.