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>Strong Sapir-Whorf (linguistic determinism - language constrains thought) became pretty much seen as a joke by the 1980s Was there any substantial empirical r
by coldtea 3y ago
>Strong Sapir-Whorf (linguistic determinism - language constrains thought) became pretty much seen as a joke by the 1980s
Was there any substantial empirical reason it was "seen as a joke", or just changing philosophical fashion?
- jameshart 3y agoIn general, as I understand it, there was only ever evidence for a weak version, and many of the cited anthropological examples that make the case turn out to have dubious factual basis - the old ‘Eskimos have hundreds of words for snow’ and ‘there’s a tribe in Africa who have no word for numbers greater than three’ stuff, all filtered through layers of academic anecdote and institutional racism.
- throwaway_6142 3y ago> institutional racism are you absolutely certain that your thoughts are not being constrained by your language?