The Archive of Free Thinking

“The most enduring tool that fire ever made might just be the human mind.”

Thomas Wynn

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The relationship between humanity and fire is so deep it almost goes without saying. Whether it is the pre-historic image of early man discovering fire or Prometheus stealing fire from the gods to give to man, fire is a tool that is inextricably linked to the development of civilisation. The question is – why? What is it about fire that we find so powerful, as an object and as a metaphor? Thomas Wynn’s statement presents a potential reason. He captures the innovation that fire brought about, the ‘enduring tools’ of cooking or metallurgy that result from our mastery of fire, but argues that these tools pale in comparison to the effect fire had on ‘the human mind’. By describing the ‘mind’ as a tool made by fire, as opposed to fire being the tool made by us, Wynn suggests that fire’s form and usage have shaped humanity across multiple layers: biologically, socially and culturally. 

The emergence of fire as a tool changed our bodies. There is a physical and biological component to this; the change in diet resulting from the use of fire as a cooking tool led to a change in our teeth and facial structure. Fire also changed what humans ate, enabling a more omnivorous diet and the preservation of meat by smoking or drying. This meant we could spend less time actively hunting, changing the ‘ratio’ of time spent on physical activity versus intellectual or social behaviour. As well it allowed humans to spread across greater geographical distances and climates, reducing competition and resulting in higher survival rates. Fire pushed human development forward on an evolutionary level; it didn’t just make our lives easier, it changed us on a neurological level, as suggested by Wynn’s assertion that fire ‘made … the mind’. Take the action of sleeping. The safety the fire provided certainly made survival easier but it also changed and shaped our brains. F.L. Coolidge argued that the ability to sleep for longer periods of time meant that we entered REM sleep more often than our ape relatives (25% to 15%), which gave us the improved ability to consolidate ‘procedural memories’; an essential step in the development of complex tools. Fire’s ability to shape the mind is perhaps most obvious in the development of language. In ‘From Signal to Symbol’ Planer and Sterelny argued that the collective process of sitting around a fire, singing or laughing together, was essential in the development of human vocal control and reinforced community relationships. In addition, the complex and interrelated task of building and maintaining fire required collaboration and communication, for instance telling someone else which kind of wood burns best. Fire creates language and provides a context for its use. Thus, fire is inside us. From our language and our DNA, to our understanding of society itself, fire has shaped us into the social, communal animals we are today. 

The human mind’s ability to comprehend symbolic meaning is one of the most important tools we possess and there is hardly a better example to consider than fire. Fire, as an object, is laden with symbolism – an unsurprising fact when considering how closely linked it is with human society. The way it protected us from the dark and strengthened us against predators demonstrates that it had inherent value as a source of safety and community. Given fire’s importance it became valuable beyond its practical use, it became a symbol. 

Fire’s ability to create meaning can be examined in three ways. The first is to look at fire as a symbol of creation and continuation. The first fire, the source of all life on earth, and arguably our first god, demonstrates this creative power. This fire is, of course, the sun. Then there are the man-made fires that communicate positive meanings. Consider the Olympic Torch, the flame stands for ‘peace and friendship’ and the lighting of the cauldron marks the start of each new games, showing how fire represents beginnings, collaboration and activity. This is one aspect of the fire’s meaning. The other is continuity, represented by the eternal flame, deliberately chosen as a symbol because of its ability to connect humans across time and space – from generation to generation and from nation to nation. 

The counter to this is fire as a symbol of destruction, powerful in its unrelenting and indiscriminate consumption of the natural and man-made world. The untamed fire does more than bite the hand that feeds it – it eats and eats until the entire society is gone. The pain that fire causes is often used to symbolise divine punishment. The all-consuming fires of hell are said to ‘devour’ the sinner and are described as a ‘fire that shall never be quenched’. Again we see the association between fire and the eternal; the all-consuming flame is dangerous because of its hunger, because it cares not if you are rich or poor, weak or strong, you are simply fuel. Perhaps in this respect we can see fire as symbolic of the danger of the isolated man. Guided only by greed, the individual may be able to grow to an all powerful, unstoppable size, but in doing so he will consume the world itself, and man cannot rule over a city made of ash. 

This brings us to the final symbolic tool fire provides, the tool of community. This goes beyond its practical benefits of safety and nutrition, as these can be utilised by a single person. Where fire truly intersects with community is in the labour of managing it. Fire must be kept ‘steady’; not enough attention and it goes out – devastating if you have no way of restarting it – too much and it can spread faster and more destructively than one can imagine. The act of sustaining the fire is a significant component in the development of community through action and language. If the fire is to last through the night, someone must keep an eye on it while you sleep. Beyond the obvious requirement for another person, there must also be a relationship of trust between those people, enough to permit exposing yourself at your most vulnerable to another. The symbol of the candle in the window is a potent example of this, the fire serving as a sign of the hospitality available within. Furthermore, the shared goal of keeping the fire alive means this system of interpersonal trust becomes stronger the more people are added; someone watches the fire, someone else watches them. The community-building effect of fire is iterative and expansive just like the thing itself; the individual is free to light their own torch (metaphorically or literally) from the flame yet the fire grows no weaker. A strong community system does not diminish individuality, it strengthens it. 

As fire functions as a symbolic object, flickering between destruction and creation, it takes on another layer of meaning that reflects this sense of contradiction and change. In its ability to represent life and death, destruction and creation, fire is a symbol of dialectics. Dialectics here refers to the practice of understanding two contrary ideas as true at the same time. Fire’s varied and contradictory role necessitates this dialectical understanding, or perhaps even created it. The reason this is important to consider is because dialectics is being gradually removed from our mental toolbox. It is common to hear people talk of the polarising nature of contemporary society, but there is little effort put into understanding why this is happening, and what we can do to change it. Fire reminds us that nothing of value is ever truly simple, and that contradiction and change are, quite literally, baked into us, as natural as our desires for safety or strength. 

Fire’s importance in shaping the mind is a result of its influence at multiple levels: neurologically, socially and symbolically. It is at the centre of a dynamic system which has shaped humans and the external world, and is a reminder that dynamism and change are essential human characteristics. 

The importance of fire is captured in the architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright. He captured the important functional and symbolic power of fire by placing “the hearth (as) the psychological centre of the home.” Consider the role of fire while enjoying the fireplace at the heart of his most famous and important building, Fallingwater.