词语控制你思维的5种疯狂方式.docx

词语控制你思维的5种疯狂方式.docx

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词语控制你思维的5种疯狂方式

5InsaneWaysWordsCanControlYourMind

发布时间：

2012-04-03

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Onsomelevelwealreadyknowthatlanguageshapesthewaywethink.We'reautomaticallymoreafraidtofightaguynamedJackSavagethansomebodynamedPeeweeNipplepuss,evenifwe'veneverseeneitherofthembefore.It'stotallyillogical,butyouprobablyrunintoanexampleofthateveryday,anddon'tnoticeit.

Whilewetendtothinkwordsarejustsoundswemaketoexpressideas,scienceisfindingthatlanguageismorelikeafunhousemirror,warpingwhatweseeinmind-blowingways.Forinstance...

Keepinmind,Stevepullsthisshitallthetime.

Theanswerlargelydependsonwhatlanguageyouspeak.Andthelanguagewon'tjustdeterminehowyouphraseit,butwhoyouactuallyblamefortheaccident.AnEnglishspeakerismorelikelytonameSteveastheresponsibleparty--evenifhewasn'tjumpingonthebedlikeajackassbutjustsatonit.AspeakerinJapanorSpainwouldbemorelikelytojustsay,"Itbroke."

Stanfordscientistsdidexperimentsonthis,byhavingspeakersofvariouslanguageswatchvideosfeaturing,invarioussituations,peoplebreakingeggsorpoppingballoons,sometimesonpurpose,sometimesonaccident.Thesubjectsdidn'tknowwhytheywerewatching.

"Maybeit'sakid-friendlyversionofJackass?

"

Later,thescientistsquizzedthesubjectsonthepeopleinthevideos.Invideoswheretheguyintentionallybroketheegg,allofthesubjects,regardlessoflanguage,wereequallygoodatrememberingdetailsoftheguy.Afterall,he'stheonewhobroketheegg.Thevideowasabouthim,theeggbreaker.

Willnothingstophismadness?

Butwhenaskedaboutthepeoplewhoaccidentallybrokesomething,theSpanishandJapanesesubjects--thegroupsmorelikelytouse"thebedbroke"earlier--couldn'trememberthem.Sinceitwasanaccident,theguywasn'timportant.Theeggbroke.

ButusEnglishspeakers?

Wecouldrememberhimjustfine.Tous,thedistinctionbetweenintentionalandaccidentalwasmuchlessimportant.Somebodyhadtobeblamed.

You'dthinkthatthishaslesstodowiththelanguageandmoretodowiththeculture--thatmaybethey'rejustlesspronetothrowaroundblameinJapan.Sotheydidanotherexperiment,thistimewithjusttheEnglishspeakers.TheyhadthemwatchtheinfamousJanetJacksonboobflashduringtheSuperBowlafewyearsago.

"Seriously?

Thispissedoffmillionsofpeople?

"

Thegroupwasthenhandedareportontheincidentandtoldtocomeupwithapunishment.Halfofthegroupgotareportwithaverysubtledifferenceinwording:

attheendinsteadofreading"thecostumeripped,"itreadJustinTimberlake"rippedthecostume."Thepeoplewhogotthesecondreportleviedfines50percenthigherthantheothers.Eventhoughtheyhadallwatchedthesamevideoaboutthesameincident.Justchangingthephrasingtoimplyblamechangedthewaytheythoughtaboutit.

Scienceisjustbeginningtograsphowthischangesaculture,butyoucanhavefunthinkingaboutit.Forinstance,duringthiselectionseason,thinkabouthowmuchofthedebatecenteredaroundfiguringoutwhoistoblameforeachproblem.Whosefaultisitthatthehealthcaresystemisscrewedup?

Washington?

Theinsurancecompanies?

Thelawyers?

Wemustknow!

Ithastobesomebody,dammit.Itcan'tjustbe,youknow,somekindofcomplex,chaoticsystemsubjecttoabillionvariablesnooneunderstands.Tophrasesomethingthatway,evenifit'sanaccidentoranaturaldisaster,feelsweirdtous.Thestoryneedsavillain.

Saywewanttocometoyourhouse,tocrashonyoursofaforacoupleofmonthsbecause,youknow,Stevebrokeourbed.Whenyougiveusdirectionsyou'llsaysomethinglike,"Turnleftattheadultbookstoreandgodowntwoblocks..."That'sthewayyouthinkthroughthedirectionsinyourhead,afterall--turnlefthere,turnrightthere.

U-turnatthehobo.

Butlet'ssaythatsomehowyouneverhadtheword"left"inyourlanguage.Well,you'dstillhavetheideaofturningleft,right?

You'djusthaveadifferenttermforit.It'snotlikeyou'dactuallyhaveatoughertimefindingyourhousejustbecauseyoulackedacertainword.

Actually...yesyouwould.

Figuringthisoutrequiredauniquesetoftestsubjects,butresearchersfoundtheminabunchofdeafkidsinNicaraguawhoinventedtheirownsignlanguage.Thislanguage,initsearlystages,hadnotermsfor"left"or"right."Butthepeoplewhousedthelanguagewereotherwisenormal--theirothersensesworkedexactlythesameasyours.You'dthinkthatwhiletheyhadatoughertimeexplainingwherethingswereinaroom,they'dbethesameasyouormeatfindingthings.They'renot.

Theytookthesignlanguagespeakers,blindfoldedthem,spunthemaroundandhadthemtrytorelocateanobjecttheyhadjustwatchedbeinghiddenintheroom.Foryouandmostpeopleyouknow,it'sasupereasytest--theobjectisonthefloortotheleftofthewindow.Forothersignlanguagespeakers,it'snotmuchharder.Buttheseguyssuckedatit.

Hard.

Lackingthetermsfordirectionslike,"totheleftofthewindow"didn'tjustmakeitharderforthemtotellyouwheretheobjectwas--itmadeitharderforthemtotellthemselveswhereitwas,whentryingtoremindthemselvesinsidetheirhead.Theirabilitytofigureoutwherethingswerewasdictatedbytheirlanguage.They'deventuallyfindit,butitwasamuchslowerandmoredifficultprocessforthem.Theylackedtheinternallanguagetoorientthemselvesproperly.

What'sthesignfor,"can't-read-a-damn-map"?

Itgetsweirder.Ifweweretoaskyoutocomepickusupsowecouldcrashatyourplace,becauseourElCaminowasintheshop,andwegaveyouthedirectionsas,"turnnorthattheCitgostation,gosixblocks,thenturnwestattheHooters,thensouthdownthealley..."wouldyoutellustogofuckourselves?

Hell,withoutacompasssomeofyoucan'tevenpointwhichwayisnorthfromyourownlivingroom,letaloneinastrangecity.

"Whatthefuckdidthatairportsecurityguardmeanby'east'?

"

ButyoucouldgokidnapanAboriginaltribesmanfromAustraliaandhe'dimmediatelyknowwhichwayiswhich.He'dknowatanygivensecondwhichdirectionhe'sfacing.Hehastoknow,becauseintheAboriginalGuuguYimithirrtheyalsodon'thavewordsthatmean"left"or"right"or"infrontof"or"behind."Theygivealldirectionsintermsofnorth/south/east/west.Seriously.Ifyou'retryingtohangaflat-screenTVontheirwalltheywon'tsay,"Moveittwoinchestotheleft."They'llsay,"Moveittwoincheseast."

Nowyou'dthinkthat,inpracticalterms,thiswouldbeprettyfreakingannoying.Butitturnsoutstickingtothecompassgivesthemanalmostsupernaturalsenseofdirection,andit'sbecausetheyhaveto--theirlanguagedoesn'tworkotherwise.Becausetheyspeakintermsofgeocentricdirections,theyalsothinkinthoseterms.Theycouldprobablygetaroundmostcitiesbetterthanyou,evenifthey'veneverbeeninsideofacar.

Everyone'sperceptionofcolorsshouldbethesame.Wehavethesameretinalstructureduetoevolutionandthesamewavelengthsoflightshootingatus.

Illustratedhere,probably.

"Andwhat'sallthis'taupe'bullshit?

"

She'snot.Experimentshavefoundthatwhetherornotyoucanregisteracolordependsonwhetherornotyouhaveanameforitinyourlanguage.Youcanseethecolor,itjustdoesn'tregisterinyourmind.

OnestudycomparedsomeyoungchildrenfromEnglandwithkidsfromatribeinNambia.IntheEnglishlanguage,youngkidsusuallylearn11basiccolors（black,white,gray,red,green,blue,yellow,pink,orange,purpleandbrown）butinHimbait'sonlyfive.Forinstance,theylumpred,orangeandpinktogetherandcallit"serandu."

Wedon'tknowwhattheycallthathairstyle,butwecallit"awesome."

IfyoushowedtheHimbatoddlerapinkcardandthenlatershowedhimaredoneandaskifthey'rethesamecard,thekidwouldoftenmistakenlysayyes--becausethey'reboth"serandu."Sameasifyoushowedyou"Eggshell"andanhourlatershowedyou"Bone"andaskedifitwasthesamecardfrombefore.Now,again,theycanseethecolors;ifyouholdupapinkcardandaredcardnexttoeachother,theEnglishkidandHimbakidbothwouldsaythey'redifferent.Butnotwhentheyseethemoneatatime.

Butifyouteachhimthenewnamesforthecolors,thatoneis"pink"andtheotheris"red,"fromthenonhecanidentifythemwhenseenbythemselves,withouttheotheroneforcomparison.Sameasthegirlorinteriordecoratorwhocanimmediatelyidentify"eggshell"asdistinctfrom"ivory"themomentsheseesitonawall,whileherboyfriendcouldn'tdoitwithaguntohishead.Theabilitytorecognizethecolorcomeswithhavinganameforit.

Also,withgivingashit.

Likewise,TurkishandRussianbothsplitwhatwecall"blue"intotwodifferentcolors,forthedarkerandlightershades.ThereforetheyconsistentlydoabetterjobthanEnglishspeakerswhengiventhesame"isthisbluecardthesameasthelastbluecard"test.Evenweirder,whentestingtheRussianstheyfoundthatbygivingthemaverbaldistraction（makingthemtrytomemorizeastringofnumberswhiledoingthecolortest）theadvantagedisappeared.Itwasthelanguagepartoftheirbrainthatwashelpingthem"see"thecolor.

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ilookedataladderbeforeandittookafull5secondsorsofortheword"ladder"tocometomind.forafewsecondsihadnoideawhatiwaslookingatitwascoloursandshapes...trippyarticle

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Sohowdoes#3applytoSanFranciscogays?

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