For a long
time, the idea that language might shape thought was considered at best
untestable and more often simply wrong. Research in my labs at Stanford
University and at MIT has helped reopen this question. We have collected
data around the world: from China, Greece, Chile, Indonesia, Russia,
and Aboriginal Australia. What we have learned is that people who speak
different languages do indeed think differently and that even flukes of
grammar can profoundly affect how we see the world. Language is a
uniquely human gift, central to our experience of being human.
Appreciating its role in constructing our mental lives brings us one
step closer to understanding the very nature of humanity.
By Lera Boroditsky