Civilisations

We have the authority of Max Mueller for the statement that Xenophanes (570-475 BC) knew of three colours of the rainbow only: purple, red and yellow; that even Aristotle (384-322 BC) spoke of the tri-coloured rainbow; and that Democritus knew of no more than four colours: black, white, red and yellow. Geiger points out it can be proved by examination of language that, as late in the life of the race as the time of the primitive Aryans, perhaps not more than 15 or 20,000 years ago, man was conscious of, only perceived, one colour. That is, he did not distinguish any difference in tint between the blue sky, the green trees and grass, the brown earth, and the golden or purple clouds of sunset. So Pictet finds no names of colours in primitive Indo-European speech. And Max Mueller finds no Sanskrit root whose meaning has any reference to colour. Still later, at the time when the bulk of the Rig Veda was composed, red, yellow and black were recognised as three separate shades, but these three included all colour that man at that age was capable of appreciating.

In no part of the world is the blue of the sky more intense than in Greece and Asia Minor, where the Homeric poems were composed. Is it possible that a poet who saw this, as we see it now, could write the 48 long books of the Iliad and Odyssey and never once either mention or refer to it? But were it possible that all the poets of the Rig Veda, Zend Avesta, Iliad, Odyssey and Bible could have omitted mention of the blue colour of the sky by mere accident, etymology would step in and assure us that 4,000 years ago, or perhaps, 3,000, blue was unknown, for at that time the subsequent names for blue were all merged in the names for black. R.M. Bucke MD, Cosmic Consciousness, Innes & Sons, 1901

To judge by the adjectives which Homer puts into their mouths, the heroes of the Trojan War hardly excelled the bees in their capacity to distinguish colours. In this respect, at least, mankind's advance has been prodigious. Aldous Huxley, The Doors of Perception, Harper Collins, 1994

The sense of fragrance seems to have developed even later. "Another recently acquired faculty" says Bucke, "is the sense of fragrance. It is not mentioned in the Vedic hymns and only once in the Zend Avesta." Musical sense, in the opinion of Bucke, has existed for less (perhaps considerably less than) 5,000 years and it does not exist in more than half the members of the race. He adduces these recent additions to human sensibility as evidence of human evolution and moral progress. How can we fit in this in an organically static brain? The merest shred of evidence to show that the cerebral cortex is still in the process of evolution opens a field of enquiry so important that it should have received a hundredfold more attention than the present-day spectacular, but highly extravagant exploration of distant planets aimed to satisfy curiosity and not, as in the case of the former, to gather new knowledge essential for the welfare of the race.

From this it is easy to infer how the world must have appeared to our ancestors only 20,000 years ago: devoid of the rich variety of color, captivating melody of sounds and the lovely blend of perfumes which delight our senses today. The inner world, too, of the primitives of that time must have been almost empty of the sense of beauty, symmetry, loveliness and grace which ravish our mind and the ideas of goodness, purity, chivalry, compassion, nobility and unselfish love which inspire us today. If at all present, they must have existed only in extremely feeble, inchoate forms. If the human mind continues to grow richer in sensory perception and more imbued with lofty ideas and sentiments, as has imperceptibly happened in the past, what kind of man should we expect, at the present extremely slow pace of progress, say after 10,000 years?

On the basis of the transformation that has already occurred in our mental equipment, it should not be very difficult to draw a fairly close imaginary picture of the man to come. If we do so and compare it with one of the great mystics of the past, after a study of their life, strivings, ideals, sacrifices, visionary experiences and the transporting world unfolded within, we cannot but be struck by the points of resemblance between the two. Divest the picture of religiosity, doctrinal coloring, extreme asceticism and penance, dogma and superstition and you have before you a hazy portrait of the future man, rich in the wealth of the soul, with high ideals and noblest qualities of the head and the heart. We will find so much to distinguish him from the average worldly-minded individual of our day that the time-lag of centuries between the two will at once become apparent. G.Krishna, The Wonder of The Brain, FIND, 1975