The video of Lera Boroditsky’s How the languages we speak shape the way we think has offered me a perspective that I had not previously thought of. I feel like I tend to live in a little egocentric bubble until I heard her lecture, thinking we generally, as humans, all think alike. The first viewing was interesting but it becomes a richer experience after listening to the tap dancer, Anderson and the Shetlandic poet Christine de Luca. A second viewing allows for more connections and deeper thinking although it was a bit difficult to listen and stop and read posts and reconnect to what the speaker, Boroditsky, was saying.
The connections between thinking, language and culture did become clearer. The shaping of language and culture from our past histories or generations really resonated with me as well as the need to preserve dialects and appreciate their value. There was a passion evident in the tap dancer’s language and the Shetlandic that involve so much more than just words. They were building on existing language but changing it to make it their own. There is a theme of past, present and future emerging here for me. The idea that language is a living thing evolving over time speaks to me. Language is more than just the building blocks of words; it is the way or patterns of words, symbols, text, gestures, sounds and tones woven together.
Borditsky, L. (May 2017) Does language really shape the way we think, SAR lecture. https://applications.arts.ubc.ca/secure/educ/index.php?autoplay=true&cid=165&gid=3294&vid=%5Bsn%5DMpAlijDU17A%5Bsn%5Dhttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DiGuuHwbuQOg
MacDonald, A. Oral Traditions in the Age of Smart Phones. TEDxFullbrightDublin.
Hey Rebecca,
I totally agree that this talk only became richer when watching again, and in combination with the other two videos from Week 2.
“They were building on existing language but changing it to make it their own. There is a theme of past, present and future emerging here for me. The idea that language is a living thing evolving over time speaks to me.” made me think of a beautiful Sarah Urisa Green quote that I’ll be sharing in my Task 4, but ends with the sentence “We’re making this all up, friends. All of it.” Language is just a human construct, but an incredible one… and it does act as a thread that weaves through time and history and shifts and bends to what we need and how we use it 🙂
Great reflection!
Thanks Jamie! You have very succinctly summed it up with “past, present and future.” I am also intrigued by the Sarah Urisa Green quote now. Sometimes, I do feel like I am just making it up as I go (to fit my our paradigm perhaps, to suit my purposes), or a “bending” of sorts.