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LINGUISTOLOGY

                                              January 16, 2019

A friend of mine argues that while there               DARK_KING
are some influences of language on thought
that have actually been verified (ala Vera
Boroditsky's work), these are actually very
slight compared to the grand dreams of a
Babel-17.                                         BABEL-17

He makes the point that the success of the
movie "Arrival" seems to show people are              ARRIVAL
willing to believe in the deep, metaphysical
significance of linguistic structure.

   This is certainly true: there may be some
   magical thinking underlying the appeal of
   the "language is thought" idea-- a belief in
   something like incantations or "word magic".


      There's a few problems with this case though:

      o  Is it really true that acceptance
         of a fictional premise tells you
         something about someone's view of
         reality?

         There's always a connection between
         fiction and reality, but it's never a
         simple equivalency.

      o  Exaggeration is a very common technique in
         science fiction: ideas are examined by
         claiming the largest possible effects, not
         by estimating likely effects.



                    It's possible to make the opposite
                    case-- if something appears in a
                    movie it trivializes it, it's a
                    sign that it's something no one
                    really takes very seriously.

                    Richard E. Geis argued that having
                    Yaweh turned into a special effect      ALTER_EGO
                    in "Raiders of the Lost Arc" was
                    a sign that belief in the bible was
                    on the decline.


                                   Though, fans of Bollywood in India might be
                                   surprised to hear that their affection for
                                   Ramayana films and such was a sign of the
                                   decline of Hinduism.




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