Science, Technology and Innovation Culture

8 Cultural Anthropology, Animism, and Industrial Innovation Processes: The Case of the “Animal Language” Myth

8.1. Introduction

Since prehistoric times, technology has profoundly modified humankind, both physically and psychologically, as André Leroi-Gourhan demonstrated in 1945 in Le geste et la parole [Gesture and Speech]. Human evolution towards the standing position freed the upper limbs making them available for other functions, such as gripping and handling objects that gradually replace the hand. At the same time, the anatomy of the skull evolved, which also modified the brain. Propelling us forward to the present time, the Internet and related objects were initially only seen as tools, just like the flint that helped to forge the anatomy of the present hand. It is clear that this exponential evolution in technology, seen as a computer revolution, has upset the relationship of human beings to each other and to the world. Intellectuals, such as Pascal Picq [PIC 17], Nicolas Santolaria [SAN 17] or Yuval Novah Harari [HAR 17a], have launched Homo sapiens into a great new revolution from the tip of their fingers.

Innovation and technology make humankind’s confrontation with its ancestral enemies possible: for example, ageing and death through genetic selection, self-improvement and even the creation of entities in its image. These great enemies present in all cultures emancipate themselves from their mythological condition to become rivals in real life. They are no longer ...