In
hunting, for instance, the choice of means (defining the how)
reflects the goal (to get meat) and also the awareness of what is
possible, as well as the effort to expand the realm of the
possible. The major effort is not to keep things the way they
are, but to multiply the realm of possibilities to ensure more
than mere survival. This is known as progress.
The same heuristic strategy can be applied to the development of
literacy. Before the Western alphabet was established, a number
of less optimal writing systems (cuneiform, hieroglyphics, etc.)
were employed. The very concrete nature of such languages is
reflected in the limited expressive power they had. Current
Chinese and Japanese writing are examples of this phenomenon
today. In comparison to the 24-28 letters of Western alphabets,
command of a minimum of 3,000 ideographic signs represents the
entry level in Chinese and Japanese; command of 50,000
ideographic signs would correspond to the Western ideal of
literacy. Behind the letters and characters of the various
language alphabets, there is a history of optimization in which
work influenced expression, expression constituted new frames for
work, and together, generative and explanatory models of the
world were established. The what and the how of language were
initially on an order of complexity similar to that
characteristic of actions. Over time, actions became simpler
while languages acquired the complexity of the heuristic
experience.
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