4 ms·

Very interesting. What I find the most interesting question about the development of writing is the origin of Chinese writing. We know that Egypt, Mesopotamia,

Very interesting. What I find the most interesting question about the development of writing is the origin of Chinese writing. We know that Egypt, Mesopotamia, and the Indus Valley were in fairly close contact throughout ancient times. For example, with Sanskrit, we can find very similar languages in Syria with the Mitanni. However, written Chinese as far as I know, seems it was not part of that milieu and seems to be developed completely independently.

bloak 6y ago
Also, the development of writing in Egypt seems to be independent of the development of writing in Mesopotamia, though that's just 2000 km away. It's possible that the Egyptians got the idea of writing from Mesopotamia and commissioned a clean-room implementation though there's little evidence of intellectual property law being a major concern in those days.
- heresie-dabord 6y ago
  One wonders if our past hominin cousins would have understood the phenomenon of two teams of lawyers arguing a case before a judge. "Wot's it all about, Org?" asked Maka. "Intellectual property versus progress and betterment for all," replied Org.
  - intergalplan 6y ago
    Not sure it'd go as far back as you're suggesting, but one of the handful of ancient Egyptian stories that survives is called "The Eloquent Peasant" and is entirely about lawyering, basically. ~1800BCE, most likely, but there's a history of Egyptian stories being badly mis-dated, due to both modern and ancient lies about when a story was composed.
    - heresie-dabord 6y ago
      > Not sure it'd go as far back The hypothesis is that our hominin cousins may have been different from us psychologically. In particular, they may not have thought about abstractions as homo sapiens does. In other words, they may have thought us mad. I look at the world and I think I can agree!
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
singularity2001 6y ago
You may look into the Anau seal for connections to western writing systems during the time when the horse, chariot and metallurgy were introduced into China.
jcranmer 6y ago
China, Mesoamerica, Egypt, Mesopotamia, and (maybe) the Indus Valley all developed writing systems independently of each other. For what it's worth, pretty much every major invention involved in developing civilization seems to have been developed multiple times.
- redis_mlc 6y ago
  I think that's more or less true for basic technology (the wheel, writing.) But when you look into advanced technology, one can outspend/outwork others into a unique position. Examples are the German technologies mentioned in the 1939 Oslo report. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oslo_Report https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oslo_Report https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V-1_and_V-2_intelligence https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V-1_and_V-2_intelligence UK scientists were in disbelief for years over German long-range radio direction science, and the V-2 (Mach 5 rocket) - they thought it was a psyop. Also both China and Russia learned from captured Sidewinder missiles how to make their own.
- suzzer99 6y ago
  Except the alphabet that every written language except Japan, Korea and China uses today. That was only invented once. Although the Maya may have been on their way.

bloak 6y ago

Also, the development of writing in Egypt seems to be independent of the development of writing in Mesopotamia, though that's just 2000 km away. It's possible that the Egyptians got the idea of writing from Mesopotamia and commissioned a clean-room implementation though there's little evidence of intellectual property law being a major concern in those days.

heresie-dabord 6y ago
One wonders if our past hominin cousins would have understood the phenomenon of two teams of lawyers arguing a case before a judge. "Wot's it all about, Org?" asked Maka. "Intellectual property versus progress and betterment for all," replied Org.
- intergalplan 6y ago
  Not sure it'd go as far back as you're suggesting, but one of the handful of ancient Egyptian stories that survives is called "The Eloquent Peasant" and is entirely about lawyering, basically. ~1800BCE, most likely, but there's a history of Egyptian stories being badly mis-dated, due to both modern and ancient lies about when a story was composed.
  - heresie-dabord 6y ago
    > Not sure it'd go as far back The hypothesis is that our hominin cousins may have been different from us psychologically. In particular, they may not have thought about abstractions as homo sapiens does. In other words, they may have thought us mad. I look at the world and I think I can agree!

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

singularity2001 6y ago

You may look into the Anau seal for connections to western writing systems during the time when the horse, chariot and metallurgy were introduced into China.

jcranmer 6y ago

China, Mesoamerica, Egypt, Mesopotamia, and (maybe) the Indus Valley all developed writing systems independently of each other. For what it's worth, pretty much every major invention involved in developing civilization seems to have been developed multiple times.

redis_mlc 6y ago
I think that's more or less true for basic technology (the wheel, writing.) But when you look into advanced technology, one can outspend/outwork others into a unique position. Examples are the German technologies mentioned in the 1939 Oslo report. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oslo_Report https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oslo_Report https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V-1_and_V-2_intelligence https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V-1_and_V-2_intelligence UK scientists were in disbelief for years over German long-range radio direction science, and the V-2 (Mach 5 rocket) - they thought it was a psyop. Also both China and Russia learned from captured Sidewinder missiles how to make their own.
suzzer99 6y ago
Except the alphabet that every written language except Japan, Korea and China uses today. That was only invented once. Although the Maya may have been on their way.