
How the Languages We Speak Shape Our Realities - EndXA
https://philosophybreak.com/articles/language-shapes-reality/
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miluge
Based on my experience whenever I switch between French/English or Romanian my
thought process or even how I feel can hugely differ!

My friends noticed that I will get angry much more faster if I'm in "Romanian
mode" than French.

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edmonddantes80
Nice post, I think that languages not only shape our reality but transform how
we act or think

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matt-snider
The use of "Umwelt" seems a bit forced to me. I speak German and don't think
the meaning is different from just saying "environment". Is this a standard
term in the environmental sciences?

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groovy2shoes
I think it's a relatively common thing in philosophy—especially philosophy of
mind, where it mingles with cognitive (or social) science like this—to borrow
German words instead of neoclassical equivalents.

Aufgabe, grundnorm, gestalt, schadenfreude, kulturwort, übermensch, &c.

Many have their roots in the 18th century surge of German philosophy ignited
by Kant which influenced the early psychologists like Freud and Jung (who
were—if we're being honest—hardly more than philosophers, but proto-
psychologists notwithstanding).

Insofar as I understand it, when such borrowing is done nowadays, it's not
usually because the German word is perceived to have some different shade of
meaning to a native one: rather because the _borrower_ intends a different
shade of meaning, perhaps deeming the risk of misunderstanding too great to
use the native word. That is, the imported word as used in the context of the
work is meant to have a precise and technical meaning as jargon. In using a
different word, the reader is then forced to learn the new word with this new
meaning, avoiding any connotations one might have with a familiar
word—provided, of course, that this "new" word is _un_ familiar ;)

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matt-snider
Great explanation, thank you :-)

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drallison
I think it's more than vocabulary and grammar that shapes reality, it is the
metaphors that extend the language, allow analogies to be drawn, and provide
handles for semantic analysis.

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xrd
Here's a thought experiment: do you think describing the world using words is
just describing it? Or, when you put your thoughts into words, does your brain
then search for examples to confirm what you've just created?

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rootsudo
Here I thought it'd be an article on what we read/understand shape our
realities.

Nothing is more fun then reading the same story, but on different news media -
from CNN, NHK to El Pais.

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wppick
Even within a single language the words that we chose to use shape our mental
and emotional states. Tony Robbins talks about this in his book Awaken the
Giant Within (highly recommend)

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GoMonad
For anyone who finds this stuff fascinating, There's a great book, "through
the language glass" by Guy Deutscher. I really enjoyed it.

