Re: Origin and function of language
p3voices (p3voices@earthlink.net)
Tue, 16 Jul 1996 22:41:29 -0400
Thomas Clarke wrote:
> For an entertaining version see Robert Heinlein's _Stranger in a Strange
> Land_ wherein a human who learns the Martian language aquires extraordinary
> powers over reality.
Dan Evens <dan.evens@hydro.on.ca> replied:
>Well, it's a bit more complicated than that. The language gave the symbols
>required to learn the discipline required to have the powers over reality.
>A bit like saying that learning the language of electronic engineering is
>one of the steps of becoming an electronic engineer, but that simply knowing
>the language does not give you the ability to construct a circuite chip.
>It's really quite different from certain mystic traditions where you only
>need to know the word or true name for a thing to have control over it.
P3 replies to Dan Evens:
I think Thomas Clarke has a good point there - from my own experience I think that
learning higher maths (which is a type of language in the sense that it shares many
similarities to language) certainly gave me a different way of thinking about things. I
also think learning computer programing at a young age (computer programs are clearly
written in a language which has a distinct"grammar" and system of organization and
interrelating) also changed my way of formulating thought constructs and organizing
arguments or solutions to problems unrelated to programming. I have discussed this
subject with others, who also have noticed this.
Musicians too work within a language of sorts. Exposure to this language (music) is said
to have a dramatic effect on their way of thinking, especially if this exposure is at a
young age!
Based on these observations, I think it is reasonable to speculate that the nature of the
language itself can affect (to some extent) the way we think, act and perhaps even behave.
I don't really know how powerful this influence would be compared to other environmental
effects. Maybe it's relatively minor - I don't know. Perhaps others could comment on this.
p3
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