Chapter Text
Some say
Some say humans form more complex societies than animals, until they watch an elephant mourn for their loss.
Some say humans can build great things, until they see an anthill, tunnels connecting millions of creatures.
Some say humans have courage, until they hear a lioness protecting her cubs from hyenas.
Some say humans are cunning, until they encounter crows playing games with each others.
Some say humans can communicate better than animals, until they listen to the whales sing.
Some say humans are the only ones capable of kindness, until they meet a cat, mothering a flock of chicks.
Some say humans can reach anything when striving for a common goal, until they see a flock of birds, a shoal of fish, a colony of ants, a swarm of bees, an army of caterpillars, a pack of dogs, a charm of finches, a herd of elephants, a cloud of grasshoppers, a warren of rabbits.
Whatever it is that we think sets us apart, we clad it in language and call it complex thinking and planning and reasoning and love and humanity and self-reflection and it is just that: A reflection of what we hold dear as society, as humans.
But what is abundantly clear: Communication is the foundation of society. To understand the ally, to show kindness to the enemy, to protect the kin, to make sense of past and present and future – for all this and so much more, the people need language.