tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11042734.post6327059454795518693..comments2023-07-29T07:16:26.381-07:00Comments on Painted Ocean: Do languages have value because they exist?Albatrosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02156254141379602471noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11042734.post-2034507539075761172009-06-24T18:11:09.694-07:002009-06-24T18:11:09.694-07:00I believe you are talking about the Sapir-Whorf Hy...I believe you are talking about the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis, which states "varying cultural concepts and categories inherent in different languages affect the cognitive classification of the experienced world in such a way that speakers of different languages think and behave differently because of it." (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sapir-Whorf_hypothesis" rel="nofollow">Wikipedia</a>)<br /><br />Sapir-Whorf has been been argued about for some time now, with good arguments for and against it. I think there is something to the hypothesis, but I also think there must be certain universal ideas and thought processes that all humans can conceive of regardless of their language.<br /><br />That having been said, I hadn't thought of the notion that a form of thought dies with a language. That's compelling, and that's a good argument for feeling at least a little bit sad when a language goes extinct.Albatrosshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02156254141379602471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11042734.post-87953856170375109142009-06-24T16:32:10.019-07:002009-06-24T16:32:10.019-07:00P.S. I think I should have said "Language af...P.S. I think I should have said "Language affects thought."<br /><br />Sorry!AlanDPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00910363728370240226noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11042734.post-86463100970152102962009-06-24T16:31:12.022-07:002009-06-24T16:31:12.022-07:00One idea, or theory, that I have read is that lang...One idea, or theory, that I have read is that languages by their nature affect the way their native speakers think. Some languages have words for concepts that do not easily translate into other languages, but it goes even further than that. Language effects thought. Just look at the current language wars that are being fought in the name of "political correctness," for example.<br /><br />My own opinion is that this "language=thought process" theory is correct, although it probably varies in magnitude from language to language.<br /><br />Following this theory, when a language dies, a form of thought also dies.<br /><br />I'm afraid I haven't been able to put this idea into words very well. I remember reading an essay on this topic many years ago, which if I recall correctly was written by author Robert Anton Wilson.AlanDPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00910363728370240226noreply@blogger.com