John McWhorter - Why the World Looks the Same in Any Language

It is commonly thought that a language’s grammar and vocabulary make its speakers more aware of some concepts and feelings than others, such that a language’s structure is indexed to psychology and culture. However, experiments have proven this only to a very quiet degree. Overall, the idea that how a language works reflects how its speakers think is more dangerous than often supposed, working against the very egalitarianism that the idea seems to foster. Linguist John McWhorter will demonstrate this by approaching the “Language as Thought“ hypothesis from the point of view of languages around the world. Join us at: The Language Event Join us at: