“Language and Thought”

TED Talk by Lera Boroditsky

General notes
➔ Language can put new ideas in people’s heads and help them create images
➔ Languages around the world are different because of structures
◆ 7,000 different languages around the world
➔ Language crafts reality ??
➔ Language and Culture can train humans how to do certain things
➔ We have linguistic tricks in our language
◆ Certain languages don’t
● Don't have counting linguistic traits
➔ Languages differ in boundaries they have for certain things
◆ Linguistic boundaries
● For ex: we have blue, russian has two words for blue: light and dark blue
words
➔ Lots of languages have feminine and masculine
◆ Has them describe more feminine or masculine when explaining tsuch word
➔ People who speak different languages are looking for right words, because they train us to
remember the things that happened
◆ English points blame on person
◆ Spanish remembers that it was an accident
➔ The way language works, it guides our reasoning on events
➔ Languages effects
◆ Big things
◆ Deep things
◆ Early effects
◆ Broad effects
◆ Weighty things
➔ Linguistic diversity reveals how ingenious and flexible the human mind is
◆ Losing 1 language a week
◆ ½ the world's language will be gone in 100 years
➔ The language 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 my language and culture
around me has taught and trained me to think like that. I believe that my language has taught
me to become more personal with people and have deeper connecting thoughts. My language
has not only had me think in the sense of putting blame on someone, but humanizing
someone's actions. My brain always wants me to see the good in everyone, and so having my
language be more connected to the person helps me try to see the positive side of people. I
think where I have grown up, with who I have grown up with, also shaped the way that I think.
This thought of having someone say something that is a different word for the same thing we
say (i.e. pop, soda, coke) is almost off putting. My thought patterns and word patterns have
grown up with me in this state as well as with the people. I have had to grow up relatively
quickly, so my thought patterns were a lot more “mature” than other people my age when I
was 8 or 9 years old. This has carried throughout my teenage years where I feel as if I have to
write a certain way to even sound like I want to be a part of the conversation.
2. How could I think differently? I think as I continue to learn a new language, my thought
process will change a little bit. I also believe that as I grow up, and move, and surround myself
with different people my thought patterns will adapt and learn with me as a person. The
essence of thinking differently is how we grow as people. I know that with more research on
things, I have thought differently in general over this past year. The essence of us changing
our thoughts drastically is very obscure but also isn’t impossible.
3. What thoughts do I wish to create? I want to create thoughts that help me grow as a person. I
need my thoughts to help develop me to become more of a person who can engage in
situations where I wouldn’t be able to engage before. My thoughts should be strong thoughts. I
don’t ever want me to be ashamed of my own thinking.

“Lost in Translation”
by Lera Boroditsky

General Notes: Compare and contrast with texts and ideas explored
➔ is exactly what is happening slowly in this common eraDANGER OF A SINGLE STORY:
◆ They both talk about how languages’ structure shapes the way we think
● “All this new research shows us that the languages we speak not only reflect or express
our thoughts,but also shape the very thought we wish to express. The structures that
exist in our languages profoundly shape how we construct reality, and help make us as
smart and sophisticated as we are.” - Lera Boroditsky
◆ This also talks about how we as humans have our language shape, who we are and
what we talk about, and how they are different from other languages.
● For example, putting blame on an accident rather than having it just be an
accident with no name attached.
➔ POLITICS AND THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
◆ This article by Ms. Boroditsky shows how Orwell is right in the sense of how each
language has different things and how it would be easier if they all were the same
◆ Orwell has his thoughts about being concise and wants the people to be concise while
talking
● This cannot exemplify today in general as our languages are all different in
common day Earth
○ Orwell would not approve of how each language is different because
they do not follow his rules
➔ 1984 - GEORGE ORWELL
◆ 1984 has this language of Newspeak, which basically combines every word into
something else.
◆ Languages help form who we are and our thoughts.
 ● The language in 1984 makes it so that the citizens cannot form thoughts that
The Party doesn’t want them to think about
○ It’s a thoughtcrime if people think too much and disregard the
newspeak and use old speaking.
● The essence of this speaking punishment

Statement about language and thought in regard to politics, power, and justice
Powerful politicians are able to influence people’s minds and the way they think if they use their
language usefully. In order to try to prove a point, they can use different types of languages, or
language patterns to influence the common people. They could put much more emphasis on the words
or phrases that they want people to notice. However, different ethnicities might take the message
differently.