Superiority Of Perception Over Expressions

Our Perception Determines How We Express
2006.02.02 7:11

As to superiority of perception over languages

Scholars have long debated whether our native language affects how we perceive reality - and whether speakers of different languages might therefore see the world differently. The idea that language affects perception is controversial, and results have conflicted. A paper published this month in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences supports the idea - but with a twist.
- Press release from Eurekalert

By and large, they researchers overestimate the value of language. Our perception is the first thing, and it varies according to different people. So like so many perceptions, we humans developed languages differently. Language determines how we perceive?is just an opposit to phenomena. Our perception determines how we express it, thus develop different languages.
I was unable to understand English till age 20 or something. Of course I passed English test, but what I understood at that time was not an English, I was able to understand only Japanese, what I was able to do was just a way to translate English into Japanese, for me Japanese was the only meaning.
Around at age 20, I tried to understand English as English speakers do -not through translation but as it is. Now of course I understand English quite well.
As a man who was unable to understand English till age 21, it seems absurd for us to overestimate the role of language in perception. Perception isn't affected by language, but language is a reflection of what we perceived. Therefore when our perception varies, our language also varies. But even though language we use changes, our perception never changes. Our perception determines how we use our languages. Our perception is prior to our language.
At age twenty, I just realised I am unable to express what I perceive through Japanese -my native tongue, so I decided to learn English to express properly what I perceived. But throughout my childhood to the present day, my perception has never changed.
If someone thinks that our language determines how we see things, I can't help saying he is not a master of language, but language has been affecting him decisively, which is a pity.
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English is also very nuanced(Score:2)
by Mantorp (142371) * <mantorp 'funny A' gmail.com> on 2006.02.02 8:07 (#14624799) (http://slashdot.org/ Last Journal: 2006.02.24 14:41)
and contains more words than most if not all languages
--''Three years ago, I got angry at the mountain. I climbed it 38 times in two months.'' Jure Robic
Re:English is also very nuanced(Score:1)
by mercedo (822671) * on 2006.02.02 9:10 (#14625215) (http://mercedo-comments.blogspot.com/ Last Journal: 2006.02.24 14:13)
English shows, in many aspects, a sign of good language. Probably proto-English used to have lots of paradigm change -inflection as other Indo-European languages do. Nowadays we know Latin has more inflected words than English, but still English is an inflectional language.
On the other hands, Chinese is not inflectional. We say it 'analytical', for example, in English we say, ' In the past I went to the park.' or just 'I went to the park.' In Chinese, we say ' In the past we go to the park.' So if it's in present, we just say, 'I go to the park.' There's no inflection in Chinese. Then we noticed if we put the adverbal phrase like 'in the past', we don't have to use the past form 'went' to indicate the action was taken place in the past.
More and more English has been enriched by embracing many words - especially nouns from many other languages, less and less the inflection of English words is. I mean English words have been more rigid -fixed than before, because it is easier for non-native to learn not-inflected words.
Believe me now both world languages show strickingly similar syntax -both Chinese and English.
--Ancient Greek Philosophers -18c Enlightenment Thinkers -Slashdotters[ Parent ]
Language(Score:2)
by Le Marteau (206396) on 2006.02.02 12:21 (#14627322) (Last Journal: 2006.02.23 22:32)
If someone thinks that our language determines how we see things, I can't help saying he is not a master of language, but language has been affecting him decisively, which is a pity.That is true, for a full-featured language such as English. Even if there is no word to describe what you want to describe, you can use a combination of words. Or poetry, for that matter.George Orwell's "1984" was interesting for describing attempted control of how people think by controlling the language they used ("Newspeak [wikipedia.org]").
--"Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side, kid." --Han Solo
Re:Language(Score:1)
by mercedo (822671) * on 2006.02.03 10:30 (#14634935) (http://mercedo-comments.blogspot.com/ Last Journal: 2006.02.24 14:13)
Probably our language is affecting the way we think more than we imagined. Perhaps we just don't want to admit so. In my teens when I only understood Japanese, I think I was more authoritative than now.
Korea under Japanese rule( 1905 -1945 ), Korean people were forced to use Japanese language. This was an assimilation policy devised by Japanese government. Basically whatever the languages we use, the nature underlying behind our language expression must be similar. That can't make many differences. If we don't understand each other even if we are refering to the same thing only because of the differences in our language expressions, we can't help but say that it is a sad thing, as well as a pity.
--Ancient Greek Philosophers -18c Enlightenment Thinkers -Slashdotters[ Parent ]
Hey...(Score:1)
by hzs202 (932886) on 2006.02.02 15:23 (#14629236) (http://uranus.dontexist.com/ Last Journal: 2006.02.21 10:26)
Gotta a link to the paper?
--hzs202
Re:Hey...(Score:1)
by mercedo (822671) * on 2006.02.03 9:28 (#14634455) (http://mercedo-comments.blogspot.com/ Last Journal: 2006.02.24 14:13)
All right, here [technocrat.net] it is. I don't know you have visited the site before though, this is a nice site for those who love science&technology. Biggest problem right now we face is the colour of sytle sheet especially yellow one-it's too stimulus for us to keep on staying in the same site. I have to retreat from the site if current template kept on. Anyway here is the link.
--Ancient Greek Philosophers -18c Enlightenment Thinkers -Slashdotters[ Parent ]