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> At one point in the movie, the character Ian [Jeremy Renner] says, “The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis says that if you immerse yourself in another language, you can
by civilian 10y ago
> At one point in the movie, the character Ian [Jeremy Renner] says, “The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis says that if you immerse yourself in another language, you can rewire your brain.” And that made me laugh out loud, because Whorf never said anything about rewiring your brain. But since this wasn’t the linguist speaking, it’s fine that another character is misunderstanding the Sapir-Whorf.
As a Biochemist-- this is not a misunderstanding! Everything in our brain is rewired as we learn things and as we develop heuristics. So of course thinking differently relies on rewiring your brain. There's no spirit or soul hidden in our brain, it's all wires.
This linguist needs a neurobiology course. :3
- 6stringmerc 10y agoI like the wiring analogy, and also ones that describe the functional mind akin to vast, complex spider webs upon which information zooms around. Making connections, turns, associations, firing individual bits or entire areas into vivid use. If we didn't "rewire" as you put it, I think we'd have a very big problem as a species learning new things!