Linguistic Relativity: speakers of different languages think and behave differen

[Razgovory]

Maimonides.

That's a fair one, though he was nowhere near as prolific on non-theological matters as some of the Arab thinkers I mentioned.  Really, in terms of intellectual heft the only languages that can compete with Arabic are Greek, Chinese, Latin, Sanskrit, Italian, French, German, and English.

I'm suprised you didn't mention Russian.  Heh,  I studied Latin of three years and I've come to believe that most brilliant works in that language were written well after it was a dead language.

[Sheilbh]

I think there's a neo-linguistic relativity that's emerged recently, because Sapir-Whorf sort of fell off.  If you're interested Siegey, have a read of some Steven Pinker

[CountDeMoney]

Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis?

[Valmy]

That's a fair one, though he was nowhere near as prolific on non-theological matters as some of the Arab thinkers I mentioned.  Really, in terms of intellectual heft the only languages that can compete with Arabic are Greek, Chinese, Latin, Sanskrit, Italian, French, German, and English. 

Hebrew was a dead theological language for over 1500 years.  It is rather ridiculous to trash a language as producing theological stuff if it is an exclusively theological language.

You cannot even really include Maimonides since his native spoken tongue was probably whatever the Sefardi were speaking at the time.

[Valmy]

I'm suprised you didn't mention Russian.  Heh,  I studied Latin of three years and I've come to believe that most brilliant works in that language were written well after it was a dead language.

It was not really a dead language until...what the 17th century?  Ironically it was the fight against the evolved Eurolatin and the attempt to restore pure Roman Latin that killed it.

Well that and the Reformation.  Damn Lutherans.

[HVC]

Low blow.

Nah, merely a cheap shot. HVC certainly won't be crying into his pillow because of it. 

Unless he is also biting it at the time.

If i were so inclined i think i'd be a pitcher

[HVC]

Crap, i'm bipolar then.

You like women too?

Boo

[Barrister]

Mindblowing.
Is this why arabs are such a bunch of retards?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sapir-Whorf_Hypothesis

This is the language of al-Kindi, ibn Khaldun, Geber, Avicenna and Averroes.  How many great minds has Hebrew produced?

Thats an unfair question since Hebrew has been a language reserved for religious ceremony only for almost 2000 years.  It's like asking how many great minds Latin or Church Slavonic has produced.

[The Minsky Moment]

You cannot even really include Maimonides since his native spoken tongue was probably whatever the Sefardi were speaking at the time.

He spoke Arabic and wrote The Guide to the Perplexed in Arabic on the grounds that it was the only suitable language for philosophy.   

Siege's new pet theory fails.

[Queequeg]

He spoke Arabic and wrote The Guide to the Perplexed in Arabic on the grounds that it was the only suitable language for philosophy.   

Siege's new pet theory fails.

Yeah, I was going to guess that but couldn't find any proof.  Awesome.

Thats an unfair question since Hebrew has been a language reserved for religious ceremony only for almost 2000 years.  It's like asking how many great minds Latin or Church Slavonic has produced.

Its totally fair.  Hebrew hasn't.  Arabic has.  What gives Siege the right to presume that Hebrew is superior when it has been locked in the closet of religious ceremony for thousands of years?

And Latin?  Most western philosophy and science was in Latin until recently.  I included Latin on my list for the works written AFTER the decline of the Roman Empire (as before the language of the educated was Greek).

[The Minsky Moment]

to be fair to Hebrew, my guess is that it there have been plenty of first rate thinkers whose native language is Hebrew over the past 50 years, though I imagine many of them write in English to reach a wider audience.

[Queequeg]

to be fair to Hebrew, my guess is that it there have been plenty of first rate thinkers whose native language is Hebrew over the past 50 years, though I imagine many of them write in English to reach a wider audience.

True.  Probably more than Arabic in the last 50 years, at any rate.

But I think Siege's point is totally invalidated (ARABS ARE RETARDED AS ARABIC MAKES THEM THAT WAY) by the fact that some of the greatest minds in history wrote Arabic, even if many of them weren't native speakers. 

[The Brain]

Arabs are not retards!

[BuddhaRhubarb]

Arabs are not retards!

well not all of them obviously, I'm sure there are a few, considering that I know some who are if not retarded at least borderline moronic.

[crazy canuck]

Arabs are not retards!

well not all of them obviously, I'm sure there are a few, considering that I know some who are if not retarded at least borderline moronic.

No reason to belief that the Arab speakers who are moronic outnumber the English speakers who are moronic.