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It seems that there are many studies that have compared mono and multilingual people. I wonder if similar studies have been conducted comparing a group of adult

by scobar 12y ago

It seems that there are many studies that have compared mono and multilingual people. I wonder if similar studies have been conducted comparing a group of adults who are complacent with their mental development to a group who've made a conscious choice to actively pursue a deep understanding of a new subject that interests them. I love learning new languages, but I understand that others may not. They shouldn't be restricted to endure learning another language just to achieve the cognitive advantages discussed in this article. There must exist other options that better suit their interests. Even if the newly acquired knowledge/skill must be relative to communication, there are more ways to express one's thoughts than written and verbal language.

etherael 12y ago
It does indeed sound a lot like the fitness equivalent of the statement "those who play soccer found to have superior speed and endurance to others". It's a little funny that the previous statement sounds so naive and odd when compared with the cognitive equivalent in the article. I take it as evidence that humans are obsessed with physical performance far more than mental, but considering what can be achieved with the body vs the mind, the mismatch in the importance given to the improvement of either is baffling to me.
chiurox 12y ago
I took a linguistics class a couple of years ago. The cognitive advantages are so extensive because according to a school of thought (Chomsky and Pinker) language itself is part of our human nature, it's innate, and is a product of biological evolution of our human brain. Knowing and switching between different languages on the fly requires a lot cognitive focus but if practiced enough, it becomes second nature, even better if languages were learned while still very young. I grew up speaking three languages (Mandarin, Portuguese, and English) and I do see the cognitive benefits when I'm programming daily in 2-4 different languages (Scala, JS, Python, PHP for instance). I don't confuse language features from one language with the other while I see co-workers mess up from time to time.
hetman 12y ago
The article seems to suggest these studies were controlling for other factors (though obviously one would need to read the study to find out how extensive that control was). But the article points out another study where people were able to make more emotionally neutral decisions when operating in their 2nd language (even though the effect disappears in the 1st language for the same individuals). So there is definitely something happening in the brain at a fairly fundamental level beyond "practicing cognition". It certainly gives credence to the theory that language provides a lens through which we view the world.

by scobar 12y ago

etherael 12y ago

It does indeed sound a lot like the fitness equivalent of the statement "those who play soccer found to have superior speed and endurance to others". It's a little funny that the previous statement sounds so naive and odd when compared with the cognitive equivalent in the article. I take it as evidence that humans are obsessed with physical performance far more than mental, but considering what can be achieved with the body vs the mind, the mismatch in the importance given to the improvement of either is baffling to me.

chiurox 12y ago

I took a linguistics class a couple of years ago. The cognitive advantages are so extensive because according to a school of thought (Chomsky and Pinker) language itself is part of our human nature, it's innate, and is a product of biological evolution of our human brain. Knowing and switching between different languages on the fly requires a lot cognitive focus but if practiced enough, it becomes second nature, even better if languages were learned while still very young. I grew up speaking three languages (Mandarin, Portuguese, and English) and I do see the cognitive benefits when I'm programming daily in 2-4 different languages (Scala, JS, Python, PHP for instance). I don't confuse language features from one language with the other while I see co-workers mess up from time to time.

hetman 12y ago

The article seems to suggest these studies were controlling for other factors (though obviously one would need to read the study to find out how extensive that control was). But the article points out another study where people were able to make more emotionally neutral decisions when operating in their 2nd language (even though the effect disappears in the 1st language for the same individuals). So there is definitely something happening in the brain at a fairly fundamental level beyond "practicing cognition". It certainly gives credence to the theory that language provides a lens through which we view the world.