Evolution of the Arrow(sign) or direction through the history and its significance in the present.

One morning while I was walking I saw a billboard with an arrow pointing to an apartment. The arrow caught my attention. My eyes rolled in the direction of the arrow where it was pointing to. It was an advertisement for selling flats in an apartment. It sought my attention despite not being interested.

I was pondering on the significance of signs and directions in our evolution. In this post, I explore arrow and direction in relation to history and its connection to time, space, and our current reality.

I came back home from the walk pondering how I can point to a direction without using a picture or voice.

First I used my right hand or left hand or the fingers to point direction.

Then I rolled my eyes to point.

I tried lifting my legs and pointing. Apparently it didn’t work out 😀

When I exhausted the possibilities with the movement then I explored voice as you can hear from the video below.

You can understand only if you are a Hindi speaker ? It was intentional to not speak in English. This process made me realize the significance of a visual language.

Hence I traced my feet on the paper on the floor and placed it on the floor to point. It took me back to a time when humans first traced her/his feet on the ground to communicate through visual representations. And other humans understanding these visual forms. It must have been a revolution.

After this exploration, I dived into the history of the arrow. The best way was to look up online. I saw the carvings of the feet from Ephesus(Turkey). It’s known as the first advertisement in history according to the source who posted it. One finger in the footprint pointing to library and the other next to the women to the brothel.

According to my research on the web, the arrow we use now is derived from the arrow used in archery for hunting. The arrow would signify killing an animal which is primitive. Then it implies humans at that time knew that the arrow once in the air will go in the direction of the arrow pointing. And that may have been the inspiration to represent a direction.

Also when I stretch my hand to point to a direction it takes a shape of an arrow as the tip of the middle finger represents the point of an arrow. As I browse through history I can see more images of an arrow than a hand.

Arrow represents movement and purposeful direction. At that time the arrow must have been used for locating food, finding shelter, or saving oneself from predators.

The arrow took various forms through the course of history and then was stripped down to basic function -> and now recently just a triangle on the MacBook where I am typing this.

Arrow advanced to a compass which made us navigate around the world and conquer. We used the arrows to represent the flow of energy in physics, elements and reactions in chemistry and set theory in mathematics.

In 1971 Astronomer Carl Sagan and his wife made a pictorial image placed aboard the spacecraft to observe Jupiter. The arrow (at the bottom of the picture) to point that the probe was from planet Earth in the solar system if we were to come in contact with extraterrestrial life.

The arrow was presupposed to be universal. Despite the extraterrestrial life, not understanding any of our language or signs.

Computers or phones which we are heavily reliant on these days operate on these fundamentals. You are able to read my text through the internet which is working on the same fundamentals. We mastered the arrow to cut TIME.

We have been significantly advancing in taking care of our primal needs. The resources on the planet are sufficient to take care of the needs of the entire population. Yet we have part of the population having it in excess and a part of the population still being deprived of it. Due to our technological advancements in directions now we are able to get things done sitting at home without a need to step out. Food, objects, entertainment, and all the needs delivered to the place where I am at. To reach from one place to another Google maps show the shortest and fastest way possible and with real-time congestions on the way. There are apps built on google maps like uber which takes you to the destination with no hassle.

We have advanced in cutting down TIME and to make effective use of it. Doing things faster for progress, development in the form of GDP(Gross development per capita), and to consume faster. Blinding ourselves from all the other factors which make us live on the planet. It has made us think and see time linearly.

Imagine if I don’t have an arrow or direction or the mental image of a destination that has been put through conditioning.

Then I start to explore to see the things happening around me. I listen to the stories of people around, feel the whispers of the wind, communicate with plants and animals beyond words, dance to the mystical stories brewing in the clouds. I play with SPACE. Time freezes or feels timeless.

My inquiry is into the interaction of humans with the environment, space around them. How will one observe the significance of it if one doesn’t interact with it around? That interaction which makes one sensitive. That interaction leading to a direction deeply felt inside. Not just through human creations and machines.

Arrows and directions are everywhere in the form of advertisements, voices of people, cultures, religions, politics, traditions. Every form trying to seek attention. Cutting down time is reducing the interactions with the immediate world around. It’s up to me where I want to put my movement or energy to. The arrow channelizes it.

I am.

Walking.

Living.

and

Pondering

Am I listening to the directions from the breath, from the heartbeat, from the sounds of the birds, from the whispers of the winds, from the pandemic we are in now?

I wonder.