"Language has rules, but we break them all the time"
I agree with one part of this phrase and disagree with another (like always, sigh) but I must be honest; I think that we constantly push the boundaries of language in order to express our creativity and show our feelings and emotions beyond what the formal language can express. It gives us new ways to express ourselves and communicate with the people around us. But I disagree with the idea that we are "breaking" rules, I truly think that language has no real rules, because it is constantly changing, evolving and it is more just a standardized means of communication in order to simplify the way we perceive language, but I think that there are no real rules. It is more of a possible way of formatting our thoughts in order to ensure that our opinions are properly understood (with exceptions of course) but if we wanted to suddenly change our language, as long as we were somehow able to inform the other person what it was that we were trying to say, it is still a language of sorts, and communication still works.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Politically Correct?! Please!
"Should we avoid all words that might offend a certain group?"
Personally, I can understand what the merits are of being politically correct, it is just a way of ensuring that no one gets offended from the language someone uses, unintentionally. But I also have to say that I believe that everyone has the right to say what they want. Sometimes I feel that people are overly sensitive to 'sexism' and 'racism'. Of course, sometimes I feel that people are completely out of line, like the popular phrase to women "b****, go make me a sandwich", which is just rude. But I think that if someone really did not intentionally say something sexist or racist, like saying the phrase whiter than white, what is the harm. Sometimes it is not even a racist slur, it is simply a phrase about the colour. That is when I think that political correctness can go out of control. Although I internally wince if I hear the phrases that put normal accomplishments as 'male' actions, I really think that we shouldn't really take that too badly. Of course, language was originally made in a culture where men were considered higher than women, and white was considered better than black. Nowadays, I am happy to say, it is not as much an issue, but I think that these phrases needed to be accepted as how they are, perhaps outdated, but still simply ways of expressing opinions and ideas, that was originally created in a time where it was common practice to be racist or sexist. I still am not sure on my complete view on this, but I do believe that certain phrases take it too far, especially when they are said with malicious intent, but harmless idioms, I think, can be accepted, at least, I accept them as part of the way things are, and not the person's true perspective.
Personally, I can understand what the merits are of being politically correct, it is just a way of ensuring that no one gets offended from the language someone uses, unintentionally. But I also have to say that I believe that everyone has the right to say what they want. Sometimes I feel that people are overly sensitive to 'sexism' and 'racism'. Of course, sometimes I feel that people are completely out of line, like the popular phrase to women "b****, go make me a sandwich", which is just rude. But I think that if someone really did not intentionally say something sexist or racist, like saying the phrase whiter than white, what is the harm. Sometimes it is not even a racist slur, it is simply a phrase about the colour. That is when I think that political correctness can go out of control. Although I internally wince if I hear the phrases that put normal accomplishments as 'male' actions, I really think that we shouldn't really take that too badly. Of course, language was originally made in a culture where men were considered higher than women, and white was considered better than black. Nowadays, I am happy to say, it is not as much an issue, but I think that these phrases needed to be accepted as how they are, perhaps outdated, but still simply ways of expressing opinions and ideas, that was originally created in a time where it was common practice to be racist or sexist. I still am not sure on my complete view on this, but I do believe that certain phrases take it too far, especially when they are said with malicious intent, but harmless idioms, I think, can be accepted, at least, I accept them as part of the way things are, and not the person's true perspective.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Speak Your Mind, Or Mind Your Speak
Does LANGUAGE say ideas or does it create ideas?
I am often conflicted when faced with the idea of whether or not language creates your speech and opinions, or whether your opinions are translated into language. I have always believed that language, be it any dialect, changes how what we say is communicated to others. I also believe that our thoughts are changed to fit the descriptions and restrictions that words and grammar provide. It is always difficult to find the perfect word that describes exactly what you are thinking. Not to mention, words have different meanings when translated. In some cultures, certain words have more emphasis in the native language than in others, as well as some words have double meanings. But sometimes words are just used to express the original idea you have, and if it you think of the process of turning your thinking into words as translating it into language, it just means that although some of the words may not fully express the idea you are trying to stress or communicate, it does keep the original message you had. And it is more effective on changing your ideas when communicating with others, as you can easily create meanings for non-existant words and still know what you are saying, while others will have no idea of what you are talking about. So language, rather than changing the ideas, changes the way we communicate them, and how our ideas are percieved by others. At least, that's what I think.
I am often conflicted when faced with the idea of whether or not language creates your speech and opinions, or whether your opinions are translated into language. I have always believed that language, be it any dialect, changes how what we say is communicated to others. I also believe that our thoughts are changed to fit the descriptions and restrictions that words and grammar provide. It is always difficult to find the perfect word that describes exactly what you are thinking. Not to mention, words have different meanings when translated. In some cultures, certain words have more emphasis in the native language than in others, as well as some words have double meanings. But sometimes words are just used to express the original idea you have, and if it you think of the process of turning your thinking into words as translating it into language, it just means that although some of the words may not fully express the idea you are trying to stress or communicate, it does keep the original message you had. And it is more effective on changing your ideas when communicating with others, as you can easily create meanings for non-existant words and still know what you are saying, while others will have no idea of what you are talking about. So language, rather than changing the ideas, changes the way we communicate them, and how our ideas are percieved by others. At least, that's what I think.
Monday, January 4, 2010
Final Thoughts on Perception
Well readers (or reader), we are done the first unit of TOK, which is Perception. Our final lesson was today, and I am going to miss it (not really - it made my head hurt) :) but some interesting points were discussed. We had to write a paragraph on a different aspect related to perception. My choice was Language. The question simply discussed whether or not I believed that language and the way we describe something, can affect how we actually see it. Personally, as someone who loves English, and is always describing things in elaborate ways, it was something that I had already considered. I had always believed that by catagorizing an object, and coming up with plain old words to try and project an image into someones head, always leaves a small loss in the translation. It loses some of it's impressions and, in some ways, it's real-ness. It becomes an object, organised in your head. For example, a red chair. You could think of that chair in so many ways, but it would be increadibly difficult, in language and its barriers, to truly and fully describe that chair to match the exact way you see it. That can lead to you seeing that chair as how you described it. It may not be an exact type of red, somewhere between crimson and burgundy, but you cant really tell which, but you go for the best relation, leading you to forget almost, that that chair isnt really a burgundy crimson colour, but something else entirely, something without a name, or at least, not one you know. Not to mention, the language you use actually means a lot of what you percieve. Ever heard of 'idioms'; words or phrases that mean something different than the literal translation? All these barriers can prevent you from seeing the bigger picture, and imagine you were so busy trying to come up with words to describe an animal that crossed your path, trying to catagorize into a specific type of thing, and then it runs away too fast. You would probably think that animal was something that it looked like, but it may have been a totally new species, but because you could only define it your way, and put that particular name on it, you will constantly view that animal as being the same thing as that other species, and not how it REALLY was. A word is a powerful thing.
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