2
The Meaning of Understanding
2.1 The Origin of Intelligence
Mal Looked at the Water Then at Each of the People in Turn, and They Waited.
“I Have a Picture.”
He Freed a Hand and Put It Flat on His Head as if Confining the Images
That Flickered There.
“Mal is not Tall But Clinging to his Mother’s Back. There is More Water Not
Only Here But Along the Trail Where We Came. A Man is Wise. He Makes Men
Take a Tree That Has Fallen and –”.
His Eyes Deep in Their Hollows Turned to the People Imploring Them to Share
a Picture with Him. He Coughed Again, Softly. The Old Woman Carefully Lifted
Her Burden.
At Last Ha Spoke.
“I Do not See This Picture.”
The Old Man Sighed and Took His Hand Away from His Head.
“Find a Tree That Has Fallen.”
The Inheritors: William Golding [1]
In this short excerpt from the “The Inheritors” by Nobel Prize winning
author, William Golding, we encounter a Neanderthal family confronted
with a serious problem: a fallen tree that served as their bridge across a river
has been swept away. Mal, an old man, recollects a similar situation from the
time when he was an infant, clinging to his mother’s back. He tries to convey
this memory to his family, but is unsuccessful. He proposes that they find
another fallen tree, and drag it to the crossing. This is a major innovation:
© The Author(s), under exclusive license
to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
R. Barrett and P. P. Delsanto, Don’t Be Afraid of Physics,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63409-4_2
23
The Meaning of Understanding
2.1 The Origin of Intelligence
Mal Looked at the Water Then at Each of the People in Turn, and They Waited.
“I Have a Picture.”
He Freed a Hand and Put It Flat on His Head as if Confining the Images
That Flickered There.
“Mal is not Tall But Clinging to his Mother’s Back. There is More Water Not
Only Here But Along the Trail Where We Came. A Man is Wise. He Makes Men
Take a Tree That Has Fallen and –”.
His Eyes Deep in Their Hollows Turned to the People Imploring Them to Share
a Picture with Him. He Coughed Again, Softly. The Old Woman Carefully Lifted
Her Burden.
At Last Ha Spoke.
“I Do not See This Picture.”
The Old Man Sighed and Took His Hand Away from His Head.
“Find a Tree That Has Fallen.”
The Inheritors: William Golding [1]
In this short excerpt from the “The Inheritors” by Nobel Prize winning
author, William Golding, we encounter a Neanderthal family confronted
with a serious problem: a fallen tree that served as their bridge across a river
has been swept away. Mal, an old man, recollects a similar situation from the
time when he was an infant, clinging to his mother’s back. He tries to convey
this memory to his family, but is unsuccessful. He proposes that they find
another fallen tree, and drag it to the crossing. This is a major innovation:
© The Author(s), under exclusive license
to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
R. Barrett and P. P. Delsanto, Don’t Be Afraid of Physics,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63409-4_2
23