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Lera Boroditsky: How Language Shapes Thought

Long Now

CHAPTER

The Differences in Cognitive Ability Between Two Cultures

In a study comparing English and Mandarin speakers in both English and Mandarin you can use horizontal terms to organize time. Most of the English speakers that we tested on these tasks could not have done what the Kuktaya did because they simply didn't know which way it was which. And I think this shows that there are some cross-linguistic differences that are not just a matter of degree. That one group does it more or less this way or another way. They're just qualitatively different ways of organizing the world that people have.

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