“Language and Thought”

TED Talk by Lera Boroditsky

General notes

● Language is a “magical ability”

● The thought process is very complicated
● Ability to transmit thoughts into minds
● Languages are different in a lot of ways
● “To have a second language is to have a second soul”
● If your language and culture trains you to do it, you can do it
● For the Kuuk Thaayorre, time is locked on the landscape
● Some languages have numbers, some don’t
● Same is for colors
○ Russians differentiate between light and dark blue, while we have one word for blue
● Different ways to describe events
● Languages guides our reasoning of events
● The language that you speak shapes the way you think

Reflection Questions

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

I think the way I do because I have a thought, and then emotions are triggered, and then it all
circles around back to the original thought. The more I think about that thought, the more
influence there is on the way I think about said thought or event. We also have experiences
and education.

2. How could I think differently?

I think I could think differently if I have different emotions regarding a thought, or even
maybe in a different location. I think it's sort of like the independent variable that affects the
way you think.

3. What thoughts do I wish to create?

I wish to create positive thoughts, and thoughts that are not negative or harmful.
 “Lost in Translation”
by Lera Boroditsky

General Notes: Compare and contrast with texts and ideas explored

● A simple rhyme shows how much languages can differ

● A question about how if people who speak different languages understand things differently
was brought up
● Very little empirical work was done on these questions until recently
● Language does influence how we perceive the world
● The idea that language shapes thought was considered just outright wrong
● The question of whether language shapes the way we think goes back for centuries
● Noam Chomsky’s theories of language in 60s and 70s
○ Universal grammar for all human languages
○ Languages don’t differ from one another
● Enumerable differences between languages appeared when linguists looked deeper into
languages
● In Pormpuraaw, they don't use words like left, right, up, or down. They use cardinal directions.
○ If you don’t know which way is which, you can’t even get past a greeting
● ⅓ of the world’s languages rely on absolute directions for space. Speakers of such languages
are great at staying oriented and remembering where they are, even in unfamiliar spaces
● People rely on their spatial knowledge for lots of things including musical pitches, time,
number, relations, and emotions
● Languages can shape how we understand causality
● One study on the Janet Jackson incident said that “the costume ripped” and the other one
said “ripped the costume”
● Russian speakers make a difference between light and dark blue
● Patterns in language offer a window that shows dispositions and priorities in a culture
● Showing that speakers of different language shrink differently doesn’t show us whether
language shapes thought or if it’s actually the other way around
● When bilingual people switch languages, they immediately start thinking differently

Write a statement regarding the essential question: How do power and

politics influence issues of injustice? And what role does language play?

Power and politics can influence issues of injustice by using words that were specifically chosen to
seem like one side of the problem is better than another. The result is unfairness all around. Language
can give us an insight into what a party is thinking, politicians and citizens.