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How does our language shape the way we think? (2009)

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Re: How does our language shape the way we think? (2009)

#11

Post by robmclarty »

jeltz wrote: post #10

"For a long time, the idea that language might shape thought was considered at best untestable and more often simply wrong." I dislike sensationalism. The idea that this can be tested is as old as the modern controversy. There were studies on words for colors in the 1950s. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linguistic_relativity_and_the_c...

And logical studies in the 20s http://tractatuslogico-philosophicus.com/

Re: How does our language shape the way we think? (2009)

#14

Post by flyinRyan »

netrus wrote: post #6
robmclarty wrote: post #2

Wittgenstein said it best: "The limits of my language are the limits of my world."

Die Grenzen meiner Sprache bedeuten die Grenzen meiner Welt.

And the quote attributed to Einstein ("If you can't explain it to your grandmother, then you don't understand it yourself") also expresses this idea.

Re: How does our language shape the way we think? (2009)

#15

Post by nnq »

c-oreills wrote: post #3

Adds weight to the idea of the Blub Paradox: http://www.paulgraham.com/avg.html

Yep. And I think this linguistic influence means way more for programming languages than for natural languages - when thinking or communication to a human you can always "escape the language traps" by thinking visually or drawing/sketching or just showing things, but when you "communicate" with a computer your minds is basically "trapped" in the language (the only escape is being able to think the "domain language" instead, like thinking an algorithm in mathematical language or a business problem in business terms).

Re: How does our language shape the way we think? (2009)

#16

Post by 7rurl »

franzwong wrote: post #13

Number system of some Asian languages (e.g. Chinese) is base 10, so the children can learn Maths easier.

What do you mean? The arabic number system that most of the world uses is base 10. Also, I don't see why the base of the number system would make math any easier or harder.

Re: How does our language shape the way we think? (2009)

#17

Post by nnq »

franzwong wrote: post #13

Number system of some Asian languages (e.g. Chinese) is base 10, so the children can learn Maths easier.

Any math teacher that uses language association to teach math is doing it completely wrong. If you want to teach math to children younger than 7, stop talking and start drawing! (scribbling arabic numerals is good, but things like the Japanese "multiplication by drawing" are awesome in teaching kids to "feel math") Teachers that teach children do things like "say out loud kids, what is two plus seven?* are basically handicapping ~50% of the children's ability to think mathematically for the rest of their lives.

..."spoken mathematics" is to teaching math like COBOL or Visual Basic are to teaching programming :) As the old saying goes, "shut up and do the math", don't try talking about it.

Re: How does our language shape the way we think? (2009)

#18

Post by camus »

robmclarty wrote: post #2

Wittgenstein said it best: "The limits of my language are the limits of my world."

depends on what you mean by language, people can express themself and communicate different ways without words (music , drawing,art in general...). If you consider music and drawing as a language then there is no limit.

Re: How does our language shape the way we think? (2009)

#19

Post by c-oreills »

7rurl wrote: post #16
franzwong wrote: post #13

Number system of some Asian languages (e.g. Chinese) is base 10, so the children can learn Maths easier.

What do you mean? The arabic number system that most of the world uses is base 10. Also, I don't see why the base of the number system would make math any easier or harder.

I assume that base 10 makes it easier since we have 10 digits. But, yes, I too missed the grandparent's point.

Re: How does our language shape the way we think? (2009)

#20

Post by [deleted] »

7rurl wrote: post #16
franzwong wrote: post #13

Number system of some Asian languages (e.g. Chinese) is base 10, so the children can learn Maths easier.

What do you mean? The arabic number system that most of the world uses is base 10. Also, I don't see why the base of the number system would make math any easier or harder.

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