Don't Sleep, There Are Snakes, a story of the Pirahas

IMAGINE YOU are in the middle of the Amazon region, surrounded by lush jungles and slowly moving anacondas beside you. Suddenly, a group of people rush you, smiling. These people are Pirahas, a tribe almost unknown to the outside world. Their language in particular has no connection with any other existing language. In Don't Sleep, There Are Snakes, a 27-year-old missionary bravely visited the Pirahas, facing astonishing moments that entirely changed his life.

Meeting the Piraha
   In 1977, Daniel Everett, the writer of this book, flew to the Piraha village with his family. At first, he had uncomfortable experiences because of them. For example, in the extreme moment of his wife and daughter facing death because of malaria, the Pirahas did not give them any help. Furthermore, some tried to kill Everett because they were deceived by Brazilian merchants. However, all these incidents became understandable after Everett systemized their identities into theories. Learning the Piraha language, he had a hard time pronouncing and understanding their words, as they did not have a written language. But he could learn numerous kinds of words by pointing to an article and questioning what it is called, writing down the pronunciation in English.

The immediacy of experience principle
   One of the noticeable characteristics found in the Pirahas' way of living is the "immediacy of experience principle."They do not have abstract concepts such as numbers, colors, or artificial rules. These elements may seem concrete to us, but Pirahas do not have general words to express them in order to acknowledge their existence. In addition, they do not talk about ancient times, the remote future, or what they have not experienced. As they have never experienced the "God" of Christianity or Islam, it is natural that they do not believe in it. They are never interested in reaching a higher level of civilization, such as making tools or developing technology. However, these kinds of simple attitudes, which are different from ours, make them the happiest people in the world, according to MIT researchers.

Relationship of language and culture
   Studying the Piraha language, the author came to develop a theory that contradicts completely that of Noam Chomsky, a prominent linguist. The Piraha language does not require any "universal grammar" or "language instinct," he argues. Instead, their language has a very close connection with their environment. For example, the fact that they do not use relative clauses or syntax when speaking is related to the immediacy of experience principle. Considering that their culture is deeply involved in their use of language, an inductive method takes a greater role than the deductive one. Therefore, the author emphasizes that researchers should not be committed only to theories, but they should go outside and see how the language actually works. Rather than grammar, various values based on culture matter more.

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   Through 30 years of devotion, Everett's life changed in many ways. He abandoned his beliefs stuck in Western culture and started to respect the Pirahas way of living. He believes that without any kind of religion or sophisticated philosophy, we can live happily like the Pirahas. At the end of this book, he calls for attention to ethnic minorities and their endangered languages. It is our duty to protect their original identities. By doing this, we will be given precious opportunities to look at our lives from a broadened perspective. Tonight, they might say one to another, as usual, "Don't sleep, there are snakes." See how much wisdom this sentence implies.

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