Moreover, I think that the women were called doves by the people of Dodona for the reason that they were Barbarians and because it seemed to them that they uttered voice like birds; but after a time (they say) the dove spoke with human voice, that is when the woman began to speak so that they could understand; but so long as she spoke a Barbarian tongue she seemed to them to be uttering voice like a bird: for had it been really a dove, how could it speak with human voice?
Herodotus, Histories, c. 430 BCE # 5
Birdlike voices of women
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- Bacteria, fungus, whale, sequoia - we do not know any life of which we cannot say that it emits information, receives it, stores it and processes it. For universal rules so incontrovertible that, by them, we are tempted to define life but we are unable to do so, because of the following countexampl …
Cross Idea
Rooted deeply in an anthropocentric perspective, the notion of human superiority over nature has historically gone largely unchallenged. Reevaluating this relationship is essential if we aim at building a more sustainable future.
Strategies to dismantle the anthropocentric perspective might consider new frameworks that redefine humanity as an interdependent part of the broader ecosystem, rather than as its ruler. And this endeavor has many dimensions. It can begin by using concepts or names which clarify the entanglement between humans and earth such as "humusities" over "humanities" and "compost" over "posthumanism", conceiving humans as part of the soil—humus—participating in a constant cycle of regeneration and decay alongside other life forms. Another strategy is to reframe competencies historically attributed only to humans in a wider focus that highlights the competencies of fellow agents. This perspective urges us to view for instance communication as a trait shared across life and even non-living matter, suggesting that the human role is but one node in an intricate web.
Non-human to human communication becomes comparable and the transition between them fluid. Comparable like in the consideration that everything, bacteria, fungi, whales, and redwoods—alongside non-living entities like rocks, planets, and galaxies—process information and that it is a fundamental aspect of existence itself, not limited to human intelligence. Fluid like in the example of the dove voices that become female voices.
of our Imagination
