What are we?
Hmm. That question needs explaining, doesn't it?
Alright. It doesn't mean 'What species are we?'. That is quite easily answered, since there is already some sort of guideline on how to distinguish and classify species("Question 42. Do you have some sort of backbone? Then you are probably a chordate, unless you happen to be a statue of the skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus rex. Proceed to question 771." That sort of thing.). The question addresses an issue far deeper and general and universal than that. Presumably. Let's try to continue for the moment. I'll start from the thing that got me thinking about this.
Clive Staples Lewis, of Narnia fame, wrote in the book The Problem of Pain these words: "They wanted to be nouns, but they were, and eternally must be, mere adjectives." He was referring to Man's rebellion against God; that when Adam and Eve took and subsequently ate the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they did so in attempt to secede from God and to assert their independence as entities. According to Mr. Lewis, that was the sin. We, as creatures, are adjectives that describe God; or perhaps, if I'm allowed my own opinion, also adverbs that describe God's works. Pantheists and panentheists will perhaps agree to a certain degree. It also fits the part 'God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him' from Genesis 1:27. Perhaps this could partially explain the period in human history when we were all very religious (or superstitious): we are only extensions of a being or beings, thus we might as well do as they wish.
That sort of thinking apparently lost popularity (if it ever had any) some time ago. As Mr. Lewis said, the transition happened from adjectives to nouns. We start to describe the world, and ourselves, as nouns. One evidence has already been given: the classification system, as pointed above. It seems that for some period of time, we - perhaps better defined as early scientists and philosophers - were concerned mainly about what things are, and how are they to be classified. As another example, let's look at the four classical elements: water, earth, fire, air. Some people seem to have thought that all things are created from these four elements. Sure, now we have over 100 elements, but the idea is still basically the same; the focus is essence, of what things are made. This sort of thinking might have lead to alchemy, with the hope that everything has a common substance, and they only need a few modifications. Even now, we can think of every word as nouns. 'Verb' is a noun, correct?
What if 'verb' were a verb? I first read this in a Calvin and Hobbes strip, where Calvin said that he liked to verb words. 'To verb' here means to take a noun or an adjective and then use it as a verb. An example, given in the comic, is that 'access' used to be a thing, but it is now something you do. It got verbed. Another example, common nowadays, is the usage of the word 'google'. Really, there are lots of examples: bottle up feelings, fully booked flights, bagged the money, Shyamalan a movie, Jedi the heck out of people, and of course, 'was Batmanned until he lost consciousness'. While not that uncommon and surprisingly natural and easy to understand, if used inappropriately (or appropriately, depending on your intent), verbing could certainly weird language.
So what?
To briefly summarize: the human thinking might have evolved in those steps: adjectives, nouns, then verbs.
That.
Look at today's world. Really. We focus on action, right? Change. We want to 'do things' or 'get things done'; questions on 'what things really are' or 'whether certain things violate certain basic principles' are set aside, perhaps even forgotten. But I'm not here to debate ethics. At least not now.
From shaman to philosopher to engineer. That's how I see our evolution as a species. Of course, probably this is an oversimplification. But the real process could be more than this; it could not be less than what I have described.
So what are we? We might really be adjectives, but we wanted to be nouns, and now, our worth is defined as one would define verbs. Confusing? Hell yes. Even I am unsure of all this.
What of the future, then?
Oh, maybe we'll move to the 'conjunction' phase, where we are simply connectors of ideas, and the best humans are the best emissaries between beings.
Maybe there will be a 'pronoun' stage, when all men are basically placeholders for an idea, a general concept of Man.
Of course, there's always the possibility of the 'interjection' phase.
Fuck. Bloody hell. Bollocks.
