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Wittgenstein said it best: "The limits of my language are the limits of my world."
by robmclarty 13y ago
Wittgenstein said it best: "The limits of my language are the limits of my world."
- netrus 13y agoDie Grenzen meiner Sprache bedeuten die Grenzen meiner Welt.
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- flyinRyan 13y agoAnd the quote attributed to Einstein ("If you can't explain it to your grandmother, then you don't understand it yourself") also expresses this idea.
- camus 13y agodepends on what you mean by language, people can express themself and communicate different ways without words (music , drawing,art in general...). If you consider music and drawing as a language then there is no limit.
- ExpiredLink 13y agoWhat Wittgenstein means is that you cannot think outside your language. Your language (in its widest sense) both enables and limits your thinking.
- lmm 13y agoCounterexample: Cauchy and Riemann, when pioneering complex analysis. They "proved" many results, but with nonrigorous techniques. When they tried to teach complex analysis to their students, those students applied the same techniques and "proved" absurdities. Cauchy and Riemann really did understand what they were doing - when Weierstrass finally put analysis on a formal footing, every one of their results turned out to be correct. But they were unable to communicate it to their students, because even though they understood it, they couldn't express it in language.