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Perhaps I missed it, but I feel like an important aspect is being left out of this article. For the average person, English is not their native language. [1] H

Perhaps I missed it, but I feel like an important aspect is being left out of this article. For the average person, English is not their native language. [1] However, it is also becoming the 'lingua franca' of science and the leading edge of technology - that is, even if it is only a second language, people are spending a lot of time thinking in it. As someone who is not a native English speaker, I am very often lost for words when expressing certain ideas in my own mother tongue (someone will helpfully point out that it is possible I didn't learn my own language very well, which might also be true), especially when communicating concepts like privacy and such. This leads to a gap - the number of ideas and concepts that can be expressed by the average person in their native language is less than the number of ideas and concepts that can be expressed in a non-native language, assuming the non-native language is English. Correspondingly, it is possible your brain is just that little bit more open and receptive to ideas, and sort of turns down its emotional reaction a little bit. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_languages_by_number_of_native_speakers https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_languages_by_number_of...

int_19h 10y ago
I get what you're saying, but the reverse is also true - other languages have concepts that don't translate nicely (or at all) to English. I'm not sure it is easy to quantify, between two languages, which one has means to express more ideas and concepts. And, of course, having more ideas and concepts doesn't necessarily translate to more open-mindedness, or being more receptive. For example, one of those concepts could be extreme emotional-level xenophobia. Or, say, loss of face that is only preventable by extreme measures (such as suicide or "honor killing").
- thr0waway1239 10y ago
  I completely agree with the first statement. I am not so sure about the second one. Learning ideas and concepts is a sort of additive process - hopefully learning one will not subtract away something you already had. Having been exposed to an idea which cannot be expressed in English now gives your brain multiple interpretations to choose from - that is, something which might be considered a real mistake in one culture (e.g. society judging individualism) might be more acceptable to you if you were a part of another culture (e.g. where society did judge individualism but also compensated by being more supportive of failure in general without creating indirect social safety nets which can be interpreted as one generation stealing the others' wealth). The concept of suicide, for example, is a good example of learning a bad idea, but it should hopefully be balanced by the other ideas you have learnt too.
  - int_19h 10y ago
    The "hopefully" part doesn't always hold, though. For example, Sayyid Qutb - the founder of modern Salafism, more or less - became radicalized, in part, by him being exposed to the American culture. He learned the ideas alright - and found them appalling. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sayyid_Qutb#Two_years_in_America https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sayyid_Qutb#Two_years_in_Ameri...
deleted 10y ago
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int_19h 10y ago

I get what you're saying, but the reverse is also true - other languages have concepts that don't translate nicely (or at all) to English. I'm not sure it is easy to quantify, between two languages, which one has means to express more ideas and concepts. And, of course, having more ideas and concepts doesn't necessarily translate to more open-mindedness, or being more receptive. For example, one of those concepts could be extreme emotional-level xenophobia. Or, say, loss of face that is only preventable by extreme measures (such as suicide or "honor killing").

thr0waway1239 10y ago
I completely agree with the first statement. I am not so sure about the second one. Learning ideas and concepts is a sort of additive process - hopefully learning one will not subtract away something you already had. Having been exposed to an idea which cannot be expressed in English now gives your brain multiple interpretations to choose from - that is, something which might be considered a real mistake in one culture (e.g. society judging individualism) might be more acceptable to you if you were a part of another culture (e.g. where society did judge individualism but also compensated by being more supportive of failure in general without creating indirect social safety nets which can be interpreted as one generation stealing the others' wealth). The concept of suicide, for example, is a good example of learning a bad idea, but it should hopefully be balanced by the other ideas you have learnt too.
- int_19h 10y ago
  The "hopefully" part doesn't always hold, though. For example, Sayyid Qutb - the founder of modern Salafism, more or less - became radicalized, in part, by him being exposed to the American culture. He learned the ideas alright - and found them appalling. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sayyid_Qutb#Two_years_in_America https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sayyid_Qutb#Two_years_in_Ameri...

deleted 10y ago

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