Re: does conlanging change your sense of reality?
From: | Paul Kershaw <ptkershaw@...> |
Date: | Tuesday, March 31, 2009, 18:39 |
----- Original Message ----
> From: Jim Henry <jimhenry1973@...>
>
> It's clear enough that some people primarily think non-verbally,
Well, infants, for one. They think, they don't have verbal language, ergo
sentience is possible without verbal language. ;)
But while I agree with Gary that language does not create impenetrable walls for
thought, it does change accessibility; it's easier to think about something in a
rational manner if there are words in which to set the thought. Also, in many
cases, language directs thought through a word's associations (see George Carlin's
famous comparison of the aggressive terminology of football and the
softer vocabulary of baseball [http://www.baseball-almanac.com/humor7.shtml]).
-- Paul