by Capital_9 » Sun Apr 20, 2014 7:48 pm
Joon wrote:
I'm asking because during a discussion with friends, it was argued that if a notion doesn't exist in the indigenous language, then it's difficult for the indigenous persons to conceptualize that notion. Any thoughts?
That's a very interesting and deep question, one to which I think reasonable people could hold opposing views. I personally think there's evidence that language structure does influence the way people think. Take for instance Japanese with all the hierarchy embedded in the language. But then you could come at that from the opposite direction and say the language is merely one reflection of the culture and the way those people speak, not a restraining mechanism, so to speak.
But if you look outside spoken languages, there are other examples. In mathematics, many breakthroughs have come about after the right question, set up with the right notation, has been asked. In such cases, without the breakthrough in the "language", the increased fundamental understanding was not possible. And then in computer science, languages certainly restrict and shape developments.
But if you speak of just a single concept, such as "common sense", then my own view is that language has nothing to do with it, and it's purely a cultural/educational issue of whether the guy in question has ever considered it much.
[quote="Joon"]
I'm asking because during a discussion with friends, it was argued that if a notion doesn't exist in the indigenous language, then it's difficult for the indigenous persons to conceptualize that notion. Any thoughts?[/quote]
That's a very interesting and deep question, one to which I think reasonable people could hold opposing views. I personally think there's evidence that language structure does influence the way people think. Take for instance Japanese with all the hierarchy embedded in the language. But then you could come at that from the opposite direction and say the language is merely one reflection of the culture and the way those people speak, not a restraining mechanism, so to speak.
But if you look outside spoken languages, there are other examples. In mathematics, many breakthroughs have come about after the right question, set up with the right notation, has been asked. In such cases, without the breakthrough in the "language", the increased fundamental understanding was not possible. And then in computer science, languages certainly restrict and shape developments.
But if you speak of just a single concept, such as "common sense", then my own view is that language has nothing to do with it, and it's purely a cultural/educational issue of whether the guy in question has ever considered it much.