Podcast Summary
Language shapes our thoughts and experiences: The unique perspectives and flavors of different languages can influence how we think and perceive the world
The languages we speak can deeply influence how we think and perceive the world around us. This was exemplified in the story of Jennifer Giacone Cruz, who discovered the Japanese term "Mendocsai," which encapsulates the feeling of not wanting to put in the minimal effort to do something, even when it's a small task. This phrase, with its unique cultural context and flavor, brought a new perspective to Jennifer's experience. Languages are not just tools for communication, but they shape the way we categorize and understand the world. For Lera Boroditsky, a cognitive science professor at the University of California, San Diego, this concept was personal. Having immigrated to the United States from the Soviet Union as a child, she understood the importance of learning a new language to fully express herself and connect with her new environment. This week on Hidden Brain, we'll delve deeper into the fascinating ways that language shapes our thoughts and experiences. Join us as we explore the intricacies of language, culture, and the human mind.
Learning a new language shapes your perspective and way of thinking: Learning a new language can expand your communication abilities, challenge your orientation skills, and adapt to new environments, ultimately shaping your perception and understanding of the world.
Learning a new language not only expands your communication abilities but also shapes your perspective and way of thinking. Leira, an expert in linguistics, shares her experience of learning English in a year without speaking Russian and her encounter with the Aboriginal community in Northern Australia, where she learned a language that uses cardinal directions instead of left and right. This unique language forced her mind to work differently and even affected her orientation skills. Speakers of such languages have been shown to have excellent orientation abilities, challenging the common belief that humans can't match animal abilities in this regard. If you were to visit this community, you would need to learn their language and adapt to their way of orienting yourself, which might be challenging initially but ultimately rewarding. The experience of trying to stay oriented in this community made Leira realize the importance of adapting to new environments and the power of language in shaping our perception and understanding of the world.
Our perception of the world is shaped by both physical environment and abstract concepts: The human brain adapts to new experiences, like seeing the world as a bird's eye view, and our understanding of time is influenced by language and culture.
Our perception of the world is shaped by both our physical environment and the abstract concepts we use to understand it, such as time and space. The speaker's experience of seeing the landscape as a bird's eye view and themselves as a moving red dot was a solution to a problem, demonstrating the human brain's ability to learn and adapt. Additionally, the way we conceptualize time is influenced by our language and culture, with different languages organizing time in various ways based on their writing systems and directions. For bilingual individuals, this means they may have multiple mental frameworks for understanding the world, but it does not necessarily mean they have separate minds. Instead, their brains are likely able to switch between these frameworks as needed. Overall, these insights highlight the complex interplay between our physical experiences and abstract concepts, and the role of language and culture in shaping our perception of the world.
The impact of language on thought and perception: Being bilingual can influence how we think and perceive the world in various ways, with measurable differences in mathematical abilities and perception, and less measurable but still significant differences in conceptualization based on grammatical gender and other linguistic features.
Being bilingual means having an active and interconnected network of languages in the mind, which can influence the way we think and perceive the world in various ways. This was discussed in relation to the debate among scholars regarding the significance and size of the differences between speakers of different languages. While some differences can be quite substantial, such as the impact of number words on mathematical abilities or the influence of grammatical gender on perception, others may be less measurable but still important due to their broad implications. For instance, the gender assigned to nouns in different languages can shape how speakers conceptualize those objects or concepts. Overall, language is a powerful tool that orients us to the world and shapes our understanding of it, with subtle yet significant differences existing between languages and their speakers.
Language's influence on how we perceive objects and concepts: Speakers of languages with grammatical gender perceive objects and concepts differently based on their assigned gender, leading to various perceptions of beauty, strength, and other qualities.
The way we perceive and categorize objects and concepts can be influenced by the grammatical gender assigned to them in our language. This idea was first suggested by Russian linguist Roman Jakobsen, who noticed that when Russian speakers personified days of the week, they adopted masculine or feminine behaviors based on the grammatical gender of the days. This phenomenon has been observed in various studies involving speakers of languages with grammatical gender, such as Spanish, German, and Russian. For example, speakers of these languages associate bridges with either masculine or feminine concepts, leading to different perceptions of their beauty and strength. This effect is not limited to physical objects, as studies have also shown that artists from different linguistic backgrounds may paint differently based on their language's categorization of concepts. However, it's important to note that the influence of language on perception is not absolute, and other factors, such as cultural norms and personal experiences, can also play a role. The studies mentioned above have shown that even bilingual speakers, who are aware of the arbitrary nature of grammatical gender in different languages, still show some influence of their primary language on their perception of objects and concepts. Overall, these findings suggest that language plays a significant role in shaping our perceptions and categorizations of the world around us.
Language and Depiction of Death: Study shows artists' native language influences how they depict death as masculine or feminine, suggesting potential impact on perception of gender and world around us.
The language we speak can influence how we perceive and represent concepts, even deeply significant ones like death. A study analyzing art images revealed that artists' native language significantly impacted their depiction of death as masculine or feminine. This effect was surprising, as it suggested that artists, often seen as iconic and personal, were reflecting the grammatical gender of their language. This finding raises questions about the potential impact of language on our perception of gender and the world around us. For instance, in languages where nouns are gendered, like Spanish, speakers may have a stronger sense of gendered categories. Conversely, in languages where gender is less explicitly assigned to nouns, like English or Finnish, it may be easier to imagine people without explicitly gendered characteristics. This could have broader implications for how we think about gender roles and unconscious biases in society. Further research is needed to explore these possibilities.
Language and Gender: How Words Shape Our Perception: Language influences our thinking about gender from a young age and can reflect and reinforce social norms. Using gender-neutral language is a complex issue, depending on cultural context and individual intuition.
Language plays a significant role in shaping our perception and understanding of gender. Research suggests that the features of a language can predict measures of gender equality in a country. For instance, children learning languages with a lot of gender marking, like Hebrew, may identify their gender earlier than those learning languages with less gender marking, like Finnish. This demonstrates how language can influence our thinking about gender, even from a young age. However, the implications of this research for political correctness are not straightforward. While language does matter, there is ongoing debate about the importance of using gender-neutral language in everyday conversation. Some argue that it doesn't matter much, while others believe that language has the power to reinforce or challenge gender norms. Ultimately, the decision to use gender-neutral language is a complex one that depends on various factors, including cultural context and individual intuition. Despite the debates, it's clear that language is an essential tool for understanding and shaping our world. The words we use can reflect and reinforce social norms, including those related to gender. Therefore, it's important to consider the potential impact of our language choices and to engage in ongoing dialogue about how we can use language to promote gender equality and challenge harmful gender stereotypes.
Language and Perception of Reality: The way we describe events in language influences our perception and memory of them, and the loss of linguistic diversity is a loss of unique cultural heritage and complex ways of thinking
Language significantly shapes our perception of reality and the way we describe events has implications for how we remember them. For instance, the distinction between intentional and accidental actions varies across languages, affecting how speakers recall information. The loss of linguistic diversity, as many languages are dying, is a tragic loss of unique cultural heritage and complex ways of thinking. Each language represents generations of ideas and perspectives, making it a valuable part of human heritage. MIT linguist Ken Hale famously compared the death of a language to a bomb being dropped on the Louvre due to the immense cultural heritage that disappears. It's a reminder of the human mind's ingenuity and the importance of preserving and celebrating the various perspectives on the world that have been invented.
Exploring the emotional depth of languages: Listeners are encouraged to share words from their languages that don't fully exist in English, highlighting the richness and depth of language and emotions they convey.
The team at Hidden Brain produced this episode with the help of many multilingual colleagues and friends, who shared words and phrases from languages as diverse as Tamil, Dutch, and Farsi. One such word is "tisata" in Spanish, which encompasses the emotions of longing or nostalgia. Another word is "quøtle" in Norwegian, which can be translated to English as "cozy," but doesn't fully capture its meaning. These words highlight the richness and depth of language and the emotions they convey. The team encourages listeners to share any words they wish existed in English with them. If you know someone who might enjoy Hidden Brain, please tell them about it. You can listen to Hidden Brain on podcasts, radio, or smart speakers by asking Alexa to play it. I'm Shankar Vidantam, and this is NPR.
