Sober Philosophy: The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis (Joe presents)

Symptom-free people with the capacity to listen considerately to diverse viewpoints are invited to attend after successfully RSVPing.

We begin the discussion at 7:30 pm sharp in the mezzanine lobby of the Graduate Seattle hotel. Feel free to come up to 30 minutes early and hang out with us beforehand. When you enter the hotel from the front door go between the elevators on your left and the main lobby bookshelves on your right until you find the stairwell to your left. Go up one flight of stairs and open the first door you come upon to the mezzanine lobby.

Linguistic Relativism

Also known as linguistic relativity, Linguistic Relativism is the idea that our understanding of reality and the world is mediated by language and culture, so that language does not merely objectively describe a fixed world but creates that world by its descriptive choices.

That is likely true at least to some extent. Different cultures with different languages see the world a bit differently simply due to variations in language.

We can discuss specific examples, drawing upon our knowledge of different languages, in which how a particular language describes a phenomenon affects our perception of that phenomenon.

For example, "ombrella" in Italian literally means "little shade," while "parapluie" in French means "for rain," and "Schirm" (the word for umbrella in German) also means "shield. "

In addition to connotations and etymologies affecting how we view everyday phenomena, the sounds of words in different languages may affect our attitudes or perceptions of them. So a rose by another name might actually not smell as sweet, despite Juliet's assertion.

Famously, "butterfly" has radically different signifiers in various languages, which may influence how we perceive that entity: Papillon (French), Schmetterling (German), Mariposa (Spanish), Farfalla (Italian), vlinder (Dutch), and borboleta, leptir, sommerfugl, baobochka, chi, nabi, hudie, petalouda, kelebek, and fluture in other languages.

On the other hand, the word for mother is remarkably similar in Indo-European languages including Celtic, Germanic, Scandavian, Slavic, and Romance languages, as well as Urdu, Hindi, Punjabi, and Persian, as well as in Mandarin, Arabic, Vietnamese, Korean, Swahili, and Navajo, arguably due to some objective relationship between human utterances and things expressed.

"Four-letter words" describing body parts and bodily functions considered obscene in English have polysyllabic synonyms like urinate, defecate, copulate, fornicate, etc. that are acceptable in polite company due to differing origins in Anglo-Saxon and Romance languages. When the Norman French became the ruling class, their language became privileged over that of the presumably coarse uncouth peasants.

2-Minute OPENING ROUNDTABLE FORMAT (ORT2m):

1. A countdown alarm will be set for 2 minutes.
2. The topic presenter begins the discussion by spending up to 1 minute explaining why they are interested in the topic and some introductory thoughts on it.
3. Each participant in turn going clockwise from the presenter has up to 1 minute to describe their general thoughts on the topic.
4. If one is not ready to speak they can just say “pass” and the next person speaks.
5. After we've gone around once anyone who passed will get a second chance to comment.
6. Once everyone has given opening remarks or passed twice, Opening Roundtable is completed and the meeting shifts into its main format.

TIMED DIRECTION FORMAT (TDRF>5):
If there are more than 5 people present we will use the format below.

1. We will divide up the timed direction discussion time by the number of participants plus one (for a buffer). A timer will be set for this amount of time.
2. Each participant in turn will become a Discussion Director and lead the group discussion.
3. If one is not ready to direct they dimply say “pass” and the next person becomes the Discussion Director.
4. Anyone who arrives after step 1 (above), may participate but will not get a turn as Discussion Director.
5. The Discussion Director can make statements or ask questions, or interrupt or redirect the discussion at their discretion.
6. The discussion participants can state their own opinions only when asked by the Discussion Director, not Interrupt others and accede to the Discussion Director’s interrumptions or redirections.
7. When the timer goes off the person speaking finishes their thought and then the next participant clockwise becomes the next Discussion Director.
8. After we've gone around once anyone who passed will get a second chance to direct.

At the end of the meeting, participants will have an opportunity to vote on the topic and format for the following meeting.