Lera Boroditsky gave a TED Talk discussing how the structure of different languages can shape how people think. She explained that features like whether a language uses cardinal directions or not in its grammar can influence how speakers conceptualize space. Boroditsky also noted that different languages have distinct ways of encoding time, quantity, and color that may affect associated thought patterns. Her research suggests that the language we speak does not just reflect our thoughts but actively shapes them in fundamental ways.
Lera Boroditsky gave a TED Talk discussing how the structure of different languages can shape how people think. She explained that features like whether a language uses cardinal directions or not in its grammar can influence how speakers conceptualize space. Boroditsky also noted that different languages have distinct ways of encoding time, quantity, and color that may affect associated thought patterns. Her research suggests that the language we speak does not just reflect our thoughts but actively shapes them in fundamental ways.
Lera Boroditsky gave a TED Talk discussing how the structure of different languages can shape how people think. She explained that features like whether a language uses cardinal directions or not in its grammar can influence how speakers conceptualize space. Boroditsky also noted that different languages have distinct ways of encoding time, quantity, and color that may affect associated thought patterns. Her research suggests that the language we speak does not just reflect our thoughts but actively shapes them in fundamental ways.
Lera Boroditsky gave a TED Talk discussing how the structure of different languages can shape how people think. She explained that features like whether a language uses cardinal directions or not in its grammar can influence how speakers conceptualize space. Boroditsky also noted that different languages have distinct ways of encoding time, quantity, and color that may affect associated thought patterns. Her research suggests that the language we speak does not just reflect our thoughts but actively shapes them in fundamental ways.
“Language and Thought” TED Talk by Lera Boroditsky
General notes
I think it’s interesting the point she mentioned that some say that language creates reality, and I disagree with that because language really is just made up things by people, but reality would still go on without language. I thought the directional comment was funny because I knew exactly where that was. I am actually really proud of my sense of direction. She seems kind of nervous but I like how she talks and conveys her message. Everything about how different languages have different words/norms was insanely interesting. It really made me think. Like when I was learning Japanese temporarily for a bit, there could be single words for things that are phrases in English. This goes for ASL too, which I know more of. The structure in ASL and Japanese are also different than in English, where the subject comes first, and in ASL, it goes time, subject, comment, then question. It is way different than English even though ASL users typically speak English, and it can be really confusing to translate. I like what she said about the research and opinion about the human mind is biased because it doesn’t look at every single language speaker.
Reflection Questions
1. Why do I think the way that I do?
After listening to that TedTalk, I do now think that speaking English has definitely affected how I think. I wonder a lot of the time how animals think because they don’t seem to have a certain language. And it hurts my head and confuses me because I figure they think specific thoughts like “danger,” but they don’t have a word for danger so I wonder if they just feel the feeling of being in danger. I definitely think besides just life experiences, the language I speak affects the way I think, also because learning ASL (a different language,) has definitely made me think broader as well.
2. How could I think differently?
I could think differently by opening up my mind to other people’s experiences and cultures. If I lived in a completely different place and spoke something different then I could have entirely different opinions.
3. What thoughts do I wish to create?
I honestly just like thinking about things and getting confused because I think it’s a great way to sort of expand your mind in a way. If I go on a tangent in my mind about something I don’t really understand, I think that that does help me in a slow improvement sort of way that makes me a better thinker and have deeper ideas. This summer I listened to some podcasts from these people I like and I really looked into like moral issues and it genuinely hurt my head because I was being exposed to SO many new ideas all at once that I had never even gave a thought to in the first place. But it expanded my mind a lot and now I have a more open mind to a lot of things and new ideas. So I want to get to a point where I can create those types of thoughts and be a critical thinker on my own withount that much dependence in a way I think on outside sources.
“Lost in Translation” by Lera Boroditsky
General Notes: Compare and contrast with texts and ideas explored
“Do English, Indonesian, Russian and Turkish speakers end up attending to, understanding, and remembering their experiences differently simply because they speak different languages” I think that that quote is a super interesting question to think about because genuinely I kind of think that language can limit our thoughts. We can have ideas but for the most part, we think in words, at least I do personally, so if a language has more ways to express something in words or concepts then that can affect how a person thinks about other thoughts or ideas. I think it’s really interesting how s. Dr. Chomsky said that there is really no difference in languages and there is a sort of universal factor to it. From my experience and what I’ve learned more about today (the TedTalk and connecting that to personal experience), I would disagree with that right off the bat so I wonder what he means by that. I think that that being included in the article was just an example of a hypothesis, because it goes on to then talk about the study of linguistics and I think how this idea could be wrong? It’s really crazy that there are 7,000 languages, and I wonder how many of them are really similar to one another, or completely different in EVERY way. “asking whether our understanding of even such fundamental domains of experience as space, time and causality could be constructed by language,” I think that even just those topics alone are really interesting and could create such a deep conversation/thought process, like what even is time? Space? No one knows! This article uses the exact same thing the Lera woman used in her TedTalk about using directions on a compass (?) to describe space. I can’t believe a third of all languages use directions like that, it’s really cool. The thing the author talked about how different people ordered the same thing in different firections was so interesting, and I think that alone is really cool and solid evidence that language/idioms affect the way we process things differently from eachother. The vase comment was also in the TedTalk. I feel like I can infer that the TedTalk lady found her information from this article, rather than this article from her, because the article seems to expand and give more evidence for these things, but it would be hard to tell withount an actual statement or something along the lines of that. Again, the article parallels the comment about the color blue, counting, and the shakespeare example. However, the TedTalk expanded on these more than the article so it’s really hard to tell which one influenced the other. In fact, to me it comes off as almost maybe plagiarism because of the similarities of placement, and I almost thought they were maybe written by the same person at first. Simply showing that speakers of different languages think differently doesn't tell us whether it's language that shapes thought or the other way around,” I think this is actually SUPER interesting and I don’t even want to get into it because I would just get confused and overwhelmed with the deep thoughts that idea has. “If people learn another language, they inadvertently also learn a new way of looking at the world.,” I relate to this so much!! Learnign ASL has definitely given me a different perspective even though it is similar to English, just not spoken. “All this new research shows us that the languages we speak not only reflect 0r express our thoughts, but also shape the very thoughts we wish to express” I like this quote a lot!!
Statement about language and thought in regard to politics, power, and
justice
Again, relating to the orwell essay, language is essential in conveying messages to get people to respect and listen to you. It can be twisted to make yourself seem more trustworthy, or simply more respected in the long run. I think everything that I have read today about language and thought affects this a lot too because without the thought, it could never even happen in the first place. Everything was super interesting and I loved connecting it to the politics, power, and justice topic.
