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481. The fact of absolute zero—a temperature below which nothing may fall—should be indication enough that real numbers are all positive. The negative is a convention which only shows direction or relativity but has no bearing on reality.

482. An interesting cycle of events has occurred in the development of language. The words, phrases, sounds arise from the need to communicate. They augment and are augmented by gestures. The combined effect is useful in communicating between individuals when both are present.

483. If through my voice alone I am unable to get my message across, I can repeat it with different words or sounds, more emphatic gestures, etc. But my success or failure to communicate is immediately apparent.

484. When the race has advanced to a point where other people are deemed to exist even when they are not seen, heard, smelled, tasted, or felt, they might be able to communicate with others at times when no immediate feedback is possible. In other words, by writing. We develop an elementary grammar in which certain shapes represent certain sounds; or the shapes may represent objects/actions/concepts that have no sound as yet. This first grammar is strictly symbolic.

485. The second grammar is logic. In this grammar, the order in which the symbols are placed adds to the meaning. “House cat” and “cat house” refer to widely different concepts. “Run home” and “home run” cannot be interchanged. At this point the grammar is formalized and conventions come into play.

486. Conventional grammar is also order oriented but varies from culture to culture. “I see the dog” and “The dog I see” mean the same thing. In English, however, the former would be acceptable while the latter is stilted and awkward.

487. Finally, to expand on a word-short grammar, multiple meanings may be assigned to the same symbol (word) which can only be understood from their context. “Charging a purchase,” “charging a battery,” “charging a criminal,” and “charging the enemy” each assign different meanings to the symbol “charging.” Within the grammar, it is our only outlet for expanded concepts.

488. Paradoxically, the grammar which was born from the need to communicate begins at this point to limit communication. As it limits our ability to communicate new ideas, concepts, or experiences, it also begins to limit our ability to experience things which lie outside the grammar.

489. The limitation of experience also limits creative expression for, if anything, new artistic creations precede and build upon the experience of the artist/thinker.

490. The result is a stagnation in society and an ultimate death to the language. Perhaps the most notable example of this is the displacement of Latin as a spoken language, even in the church where it proves inadequate to express or translate religious experience. With the death of that language came also the fall of the world’s greatest empire.