Abstract for NASS VIII: "The ontogeny of the embryonic, fetal and infant human Umwelt"

Yesterday I wrote the abstract "The ontogeny of the embryonic, fetal and infant human Umwelt", which has been submitted to NASS VIII: Sign Evolution on Multiple Time Scales, to be held in Aarhus, Denmark, May 29-31. The abstract is tied to the proposed theme session "Biosemiotic Perspectives on Sign Evolution and Development", organised by Kalevi Kull, Timo Maran and Riin Magnus.

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Paper submission:

The ontogeny of the embryonic, fetal and infant human Umwelt

In this presentation I will outline the three first stages – namely the embryonic, fetal and infant stage – of the lifespan of our subspecies Homo sapiens sapiens in Umwelt terms. Umwelt transitions, defined as lasting, systematic changes within the life cycle of a being from one typical appearance of its Umwelt to another, will be identified. Comparison will be made with the general, shared Umwelt of mammals (Mammalia). This enables us to pinpoint some uniquely human developmental traits.

In terms of the tripartite Umwelt model, the presentation will cover the early development of the core Umwelt and the mediated Umwelt, and the emergence of a conceptual Umwelt. The designated phase of human development envelops the gradual emergence of various senses, the emergence and fine-tuning of Umwelt objects, early phases of human individuation, and early sociality.

Birth, an individuation event per se, arguably represents the most significant of all Umwelt transitions at the individual level. But by that point the more-than-human Umwelt gradually becoming human has already developed for some nine months. What is it like to be an embryo? What is it like to be a fetus? In the womb, the Umwelt of the embryo and later the fetus is intimately tied to that of the mother. Which, then, is the most useful term in this analysis – communication (between the two), or auto-communication (within the whole that is the pregnant woman)? At any rate the mother is the progeny’s first landscape – the mother’s body represents Earth, nature, as first perceived. Human sociality, furthermore, emerges gradually, starting in the fetal stage, perhaps when the voices from beyond our first landscape are first heard and engaged with. We start interacting with others long before we become aware of who we are.