"Two days ago I saw a child that two men and a nurse, who said they were the father, the uncle, and the aunt of it, carried about to get money by showing it, by reason it was so strange a creature" (Montaigne). I likewise have been exposed to such a child, held as a curious sight, and one worth studying: In 1957 a child named Genie was born into a severely neglectful and abusive home. She was despised by her father before even reaching a year of age and was, from that point on, isolated and locked in her room in complete isolation. Most of this time she was either strapped to a toilet or tied to her bed. In this abusive situation she was restrained from almost all verbal communication, which ultimately resulted in not acquiring language. Even when she was removed and had specialists supporting her, she was never able to fully communicate. I couldn't help but think about Genie as we were talking about communication in class; her case illustrates that language is not just inherent, but needs to be learned through exposure. Additionally, it shows that language is important for growth in other areas of life such as IQ, thought, and communication. Similarly, two summers ago I met two little kids named Vlad and Natasha who I would like to introduce:
Natasha and Vlad were in a situation like Genie. They were severely neglected by their parents and for the first few years of their lives, they were generally chained to a radiator in the back of their mother's home as she had visits from strangers. Luckily, unlike Genie, they were found by ages 4 and 2 so they are now able to communicate and speak with only slight impediments.
Based on these two stories, I believe that language is imperative for civilization to develop. People need to be able to convey ideas and express themselves in order to have society progress. On the other hand, people have questioned whether or not this is in fact true, that you need language, and perhaps actual language is not necessary. I don't believe that we would consider animal sounds to be a language, but animals are able to convey at least basic messages to one another through their noises. For instance, and elephant baby can call to it's mother and the mother knows exactly what is wrong. In this case, language is not necessary for them to survive, but perhaps language is necessary to progress. As far as I know, no other creature has developed into societies like humans. There are no cities, production lines, distribution processes, etc. for any animal species, but this is a trademark of humanity. Therefore, perhaps language isn't necessary for survival, but, in order for a civilization to develop and profess, we need language.
Communication is huge for anything to coexist. I recently had an interview, and I was asked what is something you would like to see from Management. I told him to always have open communication and let their employees know what's going on so everyone could be on the same page. I agree that it doesn't matter the language or how it's communicated, as long as both sides understand. Communication is a big aspect of Montaigne's work, and this illustrates a great example of why we need it.
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