Task 2: Does language shape the way we think?

As I watched Dr. Lera Borditsky’s SAR lecture, these were the statements and ideas that resonated with me. They stood out to me either because they connected with me on a personal level, or because the ideas or notions shared provoked a new way of thinking.

“I can plant all kinds of weird ideas in your minds using language.” [1:15]

Dr. Boroditsky stated this at the very beginning of her lecture. It shows how language is an important part of society in that we use it to communicate and influence how individuals think. Language is indeed a very powerful tool that we humans have. We can use words and ideas to influence, persuade, manipulate, and create stories and ideas. This is significant because it can affect the way we think, but most importantly, we can impact how others think. This connects to human psychology, behaviors, and thinking patterns and it made me think further about the impact of technology and social media and how it has changed the way we communicate.  

“Whenever you utter a sentence, you’re only uttering a tiny proportion of the information you know about the scenario. So, if I speak a language that doesn’t mark tense or if I speak a language that doesn’t mark evidence or if I speak a language that doesn’t distinguish different modes of drinking maybe I still encode that information, I still pay attention to it, I still know it, even though I am not putting it into sentences.” [07:17]

As a multilingual speaker, I’ve found that a lot of the time I will fill in the gaps and infer situations or stories with the context I am given. Therefore, we are still able to make out what someone is trying to say or vice versa. I may say only partly what I am thinking about, and others can figure out or will know what I mean. In addition, I noticed that I think in different languages as well. For example, when it comes to math such as multiplication or sometimes counting, I would do it in Cantonese. 

“It’s very natural for people to organize a series of events from left to right…If you read and write a language that goes from right to left such as Hebrew or Arabic, then you would also organize time from right to left.” [11:23]

This statement makes me think about cultural differences and how language communicates in different ways. How marketing would be different in North America compared to other countries who organize time or ideas from right to left. This illustrates that time can be addressed in a variety of ways and transcends differently in different cultures. 

“Time doesn’t even have to go in a straight line…time doesn’t need to be linear.” [17:07]

Dr. Boroditsky mentioned that time doesn’t need to be linear. This was striking to me because for a moment I had to wrap my head around how time can roll in the village at one angle and roll out of the village at a different angle. Growing up in Canada, to me time and events happens in a linear manner. For example, when I read or put things in order it goes left to right. Time of events, even with the time stamps for this activity, the numbers increase as I move forward. I had a moment of hesitation, but then I realized what is normal or conventional to me, may not be like that for others. Therefore, we must be open-minded to different perspectives. 

“When you teach people to talk a new way, you teach them to think a new way as well…language has a casual power. You can change how people think by changing how they talk.” [18:26]

Perhaps, this is why manifestations and words of affirmation have been so relevant in recent times. If people talk differently to themselves and others, then the way they think will change too. When someone speaks positively about something rather than negatively, this impacts their belief. This is significant because Dr. Boroditsky states that language has casual power where you can change someone’s mindset or perspective. This resonates with me because I believe in a growth mindset and how important it is to learn to see things in a positive light. 

“There are some evidence that suggesting that hurricanes that happen to get female names are more deadly because people don’t evacuate when they’re told to because they underestimate the potential strength of the hurricane.” [24:47]

There have always been biases and stereotypes that may come into play when it comes to gender where girls are supposed to be soft and delicate, etc. That is probably why people don’t evacuate when they’re told to. This was something that stood out as striking to me. However, I quickly was able to connect with this because as a petite Asian female, I have always felt that I had to work harder for people to listen to me especially in the workplace or at least that is what I believed it to be. Therefore, I learned to carry myself differently and speak a certain way. Language and how it is expressed is indeed a powerful tool.

“Some of them [these people] have never learned a language that has a number system. Specifically, deficient in this linguistic input, having number words in their vocabulary.” [38:28]

Dr. Boroditsky emphasized cultural differences when it comes to language and math. Some cultures don’t have a number system or number words in their vocabulary. Some cultures use cardinal directions to communicate their location and direction. This was quite eye-opening to me. This is important because I grew up in a culture that has a number system, and we use it without thinking. We list things and count things in a particular way and so egocentrically think that other people should understand it the same way. However, I was living in Asia for almost 10 years, and I have learned a lot about understanding and respecting cultural differences. There are a lot of unspoken and spoken rules and we need to remember to be adaptable and open-minded. It is such a beautiful thing when we try to understand and learn from each other.  

“We are able to think about the world and conceptualize the world in many many ways…but we don’t usually do all those different ways. We just do things the way that we’re used to in our languages and cultures.” [44:34]

As humans, we are creatures of habit. Thus, we often do things the way we know or that we are most comfortable with. Why change something when it is not broken or why do something differently if this way has worked? In this day and age, we must understand that language and technology come hand in hand, in fact, language is technology. We use language to communicate effectively with each other or at least we attempt to. Dr. Boroditsky mentions about linguistic diversity – the way we think about things and the things that our mind can do. It is flexible and adaptable. Therefore, language affects how we think, and how we think affects how we express ourselves.

References
Boroditsky, L. (2011). How language shapes thought. Scientific American, 304(2), 62-65.

SAR School for Advanced Research. (2017, June 7). Lera Boroditsky, how the languages we speak shape the way we think [Video]. YouTube.