Thinking with Drums

In the countries that adopted the Greek philosophical tradition, what is called thinking generally takes place through words, whether written or spoken.  That's why we get long philosophical books, debates, and pretentious blogs like this one.  In Brazil, many people have argued that the best thinking happens in song.  During our last week in Los Angeles, we went with Helena to see a show by a Yoruba drummer, who argued that in much of Africa, thinking happens through drumming.

You can see the video of Helena drumming above, and some photos in Saturday's blog.  For a baby (and, in truth, for most of us), thinking through drumming or dancing or singing seems to be a much more compelling and seductive way to do philosophy.  In Yoruba culture, moral lessons, new ideas, and traditional values get passed through the drums, which are said to "talk" -- which in fact they do, when you learn how to lesson for the sounds.  Songs always convey moral lessons to the young in America and Brazil, and I suppose in Europe and many other places as well.  And the incorporation of the body into these lessons must make them that much more powerful.

However, I wonder how counter-thinking happens in a culture where drumming is thinking?  How does one subvert, question, undermine authority?  For all of the excitement of thinking in other ways, I don't want to condemn the verbal tradition of the west.  It makes for a great way to think and question the world, tradition, and the very words one uses to think.

I hope that Helena learns to think with drums and words, dance and song and even in the songs of birds. Maybe she'll learn that in her childhood of much travel and border crossings.