“Language and Thought”

TED Talk by Lera Boroditsky

General notes

-It’s really cool how language is really just making sounds with our mouths and communicating
thoughts to others.
-Language transcends time which is very cool, I can like one way to be talked to by dead people.
-language causes different cultures.
-In different cultures and languages think about time differently.
-different cultures also raise more egos sometimes.
-some languages don’t count and it's the same of how our culture has a harder time with direction.
-In English we assign even accidents to people other languages would say “the vase broke” not “he
broke the vase”
-Language differs when explaining space and time which is pretty cool but hard to understand and
comprehend people who speak other languages.
-there are 7,000 languages around the world today.
-”languages are living things”
-speaker of different languages think differently.

Reflection Questions

1. Why do I think the way that I do?

I probably think the way I do because it’s the only way I’ve ever been taught and it’s the only
way I see thoughts being thought. The culture I grew up in, and the language that surrounds
me impacts the way I think about things.

2. How could I think differently?

I think learning a new language and/or submerging yourself in an unfamiliar culture, can
show you that there are different ways to think. First realizing this is the first step, but then
trying to understand other cultures and how they think is the final step.

3. What thoughts do I wish to create?

I wish to create positive thoughts and good ideas. Ideas that can be argued and developed.

“Lost in Translation”
 by Lera Boroditsky

General Notes: Compare and contrast with texts and ideas explored

Languages differ in how much information words give, and different languages have different lines to
cross on if you've given enough information. This would lead people to believe that thoughts and
what we pay attention to in what information is given us, would vary in different languages and
cultures. She again brings up the time progression ordering experiment she did and I find it very
interesting, people form different cultures arrange what I would do left to right, in a different way. I
feel like things like this are hard for people of any culture to see done differently and it’s hard to
understand, it just feels so fundamental. I bring this up because it reminds me of the TEDTalk we
watched on single sided stories. When you grow up seeing only one thing, it’s hard to begin to
comprehend that it can be done any other way. The way language describes events can affect the way
a listener understands the event. The same thing can happen but because of how we use language,
two different people being described the same thing but in different languages can come away with
believing slight differences from each other.

Statement about language and thought in regard to politics, power, and

justice

I think how language affects thoughts is used and manipulated by people in power into creating
certains thoughts and emotions through the use of language. With politics, politicians use certain
phrasings and word choices in order to make audiences blindly agree with them. I think language and
thought in regards to politics, power, and justice is used as a tool but usually in a negative and
dangerous way.