Know

There are some concepts or words that when we think about them, especially about their origin, make us wonder how the world works. Looking closely, we can’t stop but wonder how the first person came up with them. Can you imagine what was going on in their mind when they thought of something that was probably so vague and unclear at first but is now a part of our everyday lives? There are plenty of concepts like that, one of which I am thinking specifically about now is “know”.

Let’s take a moment to forget about the usual definitions of “know” and imagine ourselves in ancient times. Imagine being the very first person to come up with this concept. What would have been going through your mind as you conceptualized it and later tried to explain it to people who have never been exposed to that concept? It’s possible that this happened in a language different from English, a long time ago before our familiar languages existed, in a prehistoric era. Can you imagine the way people viewed the world back then? How did they come up with such a completely new concept? What were they thinking about?!

But it’s not just the word “know” that amazes me in this context. There are many similar concepts that their existence is fascinating once I think deeply about their origins. Like how did the first person come up with abstract concepts such as “color”, “category”, “mind” or “happiness”? What kind of mental acrobatics and leaps of understanding were necessary to put those abstractions into concepts and then into words that help us all grasp the world a little more clearly? These sorts of meditations give us a glimpse into our creative potential, as well as how our understanding of the world depends on how our ancestors defined the world using their man-made concepts.