Tool(S)?
Francoise Herrmann (fherrmann who-is-at igc.apc.org)
Mon, 9 Oct 1995 15:59:52 -0700
Hi everyone, Here are some thoughts in response to the on-going
flow of action. I think that the suggestions from Vera and Pete
that the visual mediates action functions like a language in that
it is used for the expression and cognizing of thought. I now
agree with you that perhaps the term speech is too restrictive,
because that appears to exclude parts of humanity such as Deaf
people. However, my understanding of the case of Deaf people and
the bitter wars between the interventionists and the ASL
proponents is that in one case language must include speech and in
the other there is a biological tailoring of language to the
specifics of expression of that group of people. The problem is to
have some kind of language, be-it speech, visual, bodily kinetic,
mathematical, musical or even perhaps logical. To me then these
would all be primary and still different from pens, pencils and
computers tool-artifacts. My other thoughts are about integrating
mediated action in activity and the relational, transformative
aspect of that (i.e.; thinking about Alfred Lang's comments, a
little of what Gordon Wells posted and Marx through Mike and Jac).
Perhaps that it would be possible to say that mediated action is
also transformative in a dialectic sense. That is whatever the
form of mediation there is constraint at a particular point in
time (the widest constraint), in a given situation and of the
tools themselves in such a way that mediation is both tool
(extension) and gives shape to activity (thought, action,
productivity etc...).
I also thought (by now really un-grounded) that the story of the
double helix in the discovery of DNA is another example of
mediation perhaps outside of speech (since it was a dream!), but
to me language and primary tool.
Francoise Francoise Herrmann fherrmann who-is-at igc.org