Critical Brain Processes Involved in Deciphering the Greek Alphabet

Here we present the ‘Abstract‘ of the corresponding chapter of the book “The Alphabet and the Brain” by Kerckhove, Derrick de, Lumsden, Charles.

Abstract

The object of this chapter is to present a hypothesis concerning the underpinnings of Western culture. Did the fully phonetic alphabet developed by the Greeks and still used today in Greece (and in the rest of the West in its Latin and Cyrillic variations), have a conditioning impact on the biases of specialized brain processes? The hypothesis is that when the Greeks introduced vowels to adapt the Phoenician alphabet to suit the needs of their own Indo-European language, they changed the nature of the reading process from a context-based to a sequence-based decipherment. This change in turn may have been responsible for the reorganization of brain strategies, and this may explain why the direction of writing changed from the leftward orientation of Phoenician to rightward. The implications of such a change may have had far-reaching consequences on the biases of Western cognition.

(Link for the paper: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-662-01093-8_21)

(NovoScriptorium: As every true scientist and researcher knows, there is no ‘Indo-European’ tribe or race or nation corresponding to a supposed ‘Indo-European’ culture or language. The term though is still used for convenience. In our opinion, it shouldn’t, as it doesn’t reflect reality. As for the supposed Phoenician origin of many Greek Letters it is completely irrational as an assumption and it is rejected by Logic and archeological finds; Greek Mythology certainly certifies that Writing among the Greeks was a Greek invention, not received from elsewhere, and it dates back to much more ancient times than the supposed 8th century B.C.. We must add that according to Greek Mythology, the first Phoenicians of Kadmos were of Greek origin themselves. We cannot resist the temptation to provoke your reasoning, dear Reader; how is it possible for the supposed first work of Greek Literature, the Homeric Epics, to be the best and basis of all, in terms of language, in terms of writing form, that is poetry, in terms of meanings, etc? It doesn’t really make sense. Finally, let us conclude by bringing to your knowledge that there is archeological evidence of Writing, partially alphabetic writing included, in Greece since Neolithic times. We promise to return on the subject soon and post relative material)