Sacred Interdependences

"The Chaos Times" my Florida State University foray into journalism had a tagline borrowed from the 纽约时报 :

The Chaos Times: An Interdependent Voice

Even back in 1997, I had a deterministic connectionist philosophy from my study of Derrida and semiotics. Thank you to the poets and scholars who led this way, especially Michael Tomasello a prominent figure in the field of developmental and comparative psychology, as well as a linguist. He's a James F. Bonk Distinguished Professor in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience at 美国杜克大学 and is known for his experimental comparisons of human cognition and social behavior to that of our closest primate relatives. His work has been fundamental in understanding that humans, even from a young age, are uniquely adept at social learning, communication, and cooperation, which sets us apart from other primates.

The concept highlighting the difference in the way humans and other animals interpret a pointing gesture is often associated with studies in developmental psychology and cognitive ethology. Michael Tomasello is one of the prominent figures in this field; his work at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology has extensively explored the cognitive abilities that distinguish humans from other apes, particularly in the context of social communication and cooperative behavior.

The observation itself about pointing is a common one in studies of human and animal behavior, and it's hard to attribute it to a single individual. However, Tomasello’s research has significantly contributed to our understanding of these differences through numerous experiments and comparative studies between humans, particularly children, and other primates.

Tomasello’s research has shown that even two-year-old children, before developing complex linguistic or mathematical skills, outperform apes in social understanding. This includes interpreting communicative gestures like pointing, which humans understand as indicating something beyond the immediate, unlike apes. His work highlights how such communicative skills are essential in the development and acquisition of language.

Moreover, Tomasello has contributed to the discussion on the evolution of human cognition by framing humans as 'ultra-social' beings, emphasizing our complex interactions, cooperative living, and the capacity for collective problem-solving that characterized human hunter-gatherer groups for much of our evolutionary history. Tomasello has been awarded numerous prestigious awards for his contributions to psychology, including the Guggenheim Fellowship and the Heineken Prize for Cognitive Science.

Tomasello’s bibliography includes significant works such as "Primate Cognition", "The Cultural Origins of Human Cognition", and "A Natural History of Human Thinking", among others, that delve deeper into the cognitive capacities of both nonhuman primates and human children.

Michael Tomasello has argued for the fundamentally social nature of human cognition through his interdependence hypothesis. According to this theory, the roots of human cooperative behavior, and indeed much of human cognitive development, lie in our reliance on one another—a concept that aligns with the idea of no individual being independent, but rather part of an interdependent relational reality.

This perspective resonates with the views of Nadine Burke Harris the first Surgeon General of California, and a leader of thought leaders who happens to be a black American woman, has spent her life mission emphasizing the importance of social determinants and community context in health outcomes, illustrating the interconnectedness of individuals within societal systems. She's one of my idols and role-models.

Natural inclusionality as our interdependence.

Another titan of natural "loosely-coupled" connections is Alan Rayner , a British biologist who has contributed significantly to the concept of interdependence within the natural world, specifically through his philosophy of "natural inclusionality." This approach focuses on the fluid, dynamic interrelationship between all forms of life and their environment, rather than viewing entities as isolated and independent. His work is inter-disciplinary, combining insights from biology, environmental science, philosophy, art, and poetry to communicate complex ideas about the interconnectedness of life.

Rayner's perspective on interdependence aligns with Tomasello's findings on the cooperative and inherently social nature of human cognition. Both scholars emphasize the relational aspect of existence, whether it be in understanding human development and communication or in broader ecological and evolutionary patterns. Rayner's concept of natural inclusionality might be seen as complementary to Tomasello's work, offering a philosophical and ecological underpinning to the social theories of human development, highlighting the non-separability of self-identity and the environment.

Incorporating this understanding into broader societal and health contexts, figures like Nadine Burke Harris, who is known for her focus on the impact of social and community factors on health, would likely resonate with Rayner's inclusive and relational approach. Her work in public health illustrates the interconnectedness of individual well-being and societal conditions, reinforcing the notion that humans are not isolated beings but are deeply affected by and integrated with their communities and environments.

Perfect futures plural can become real.

In our future conversations, we will have concluded that the interdependence theory, as discussed by scholars like Michael Tomasello and Alan Rayner, emphasizes the inherently social and relational nature of human beings. We will have recognized that humans, unlike other species, develop within a complex network of social relations that fundamentally shape our cognition and behaviors.

Through Nadine Burke Harris's work, we will have delved deeply into the impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) as explored in her book "The Deepest Well." We will have understood how ACEs profoundly affect both the psychological and physical health of individuals across their lifespan. Our discussions will have elucidated how early stress and trauma can lead to a myriad of health issues, as the body's stress response, when constantly activated, can be as harmful as physical diseases.

Our shared understanding will be that recognizing the web of connections between our social experiences and our health is crucial. We will have grasped the importance of fostering resilient communities and support systems that can mitigate the negative impacts of these experiences.

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