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Lera Boroditsky: How Language Shapes Thought

Long Now

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The Importance of Language in Human Cognition

Linguistic expressions are always very sparse. We're only ever saying a small proportion of what we actually know, so it could be that everyone actually knows and pays attention to all this stuff. Just because people talk differently doesn't necessarily mean they think differently. Are some thoughts unthinkable without language? If your language doesn't have a particular property, or if you haven't learned that particular property yet, are there some things that are impossible for you to conceive? And ultimately, what is basic? What is universal in human cognition? How do languages and cultures allow us to become as smart and as sophisticated as we are?"

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