Work for November 5th - Apologies for my absence kiddos...

Hey all my tokrophers,
Unfortunately we'll not be able to meet this Thursday morning, I know you're very disappointed :-)  In lieu of our regular session, I've got a few tasks for you to complete before our meeting next week.  And before I forget, will all those coming along on our happy trip on Tuesday next week be sure to read the articles you were given in preparation for the conference?

Ok...so here come the tasks.  First, I want you to examine language and thought.  Answer the following in your TOK notes and discuss with anyone you happen to come into contact with today (we're going to be Socrates on a Thursday):

• Can we think without language? 
• Do people who speak different languages think differently about the world because of their langauge differences?
• If French is the language of love, what is English?
• In what language do you talk to your pets (if you have them...if not, random animals you may have encountered in your life???)

Here's what some more intelligent people than I have said about language's influence on our thoughts:

• “Speech is the representation of the experiences of the mind.” ARISTOTLE
• “Man lives with the world about him, principally, indeed exclusively, as language presents it.” WILHELM VON HUMBELDT
• “We see and think as we do, mostly because of our language community.” BENJAMIN WHORF

According to Linguistic Determinism, the languages we use determine what we can think.  The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis suggests that our thoughts are completely limited by our language.  If your first language is not English though you are completely bilingual, what language do you think in?  What language do you dream in?  How did George Orwell use this idea in “1984”? <-- Let's just say, when you encounter any questions in this blog entry, you write about it in your TOKky notes.

Let's now think of technical languages.  Can a doctor actually be competent before he learns the words associated with his profession?  Could a mathematician solve complex problems without employing the symbolic language of algebra?  Can two computer experts converse without “techie-speak”?

Now, I think we can all agree that our mental world is far richer than our vocabulary.  Can you think of any feelings or thoughts for which there aren’t any words in your first language?  If you are multilingual are there any words in one of your languages which do not exist in your other language?

Second task:  Identify some mental concepts for which there should be words. Why is this difficult to do? What implications does this have for the relationship between language and thought?

So, to what extent does thought rely on language?  To recap:
Linguistic Determinism: the view that our thought, and therefore our knowledge, is determined and limited by our language.

Linguistic Realism: the view that our language is determined by our needs and by the world we experience around us.

That would conclude things for our first session, Period 2.  Now, let's get into some really subversive stuff :-)

Before I set you to your next task, I want you to ask yourself the following questions - think of it as a mental warm-up before you're set your next mental exercise.

Without a word, does a thing exist?
Did ‘road-rage’ happen before it was named?
Once the word was used and the act defined, did it become an accepted act?
Could this particular classification of violence be discussed without the creation of a name?
To eat meat do we kill animals, do we murder/butcher/slaughter or simply process them?

Now comes the time for your mind to sweat a bit...I'd now like you to read a few things on the internet to help us delve a bit further into Language's hold on our thoughts.  First, please read the appendix from 1984. 
Next, I'd like you to discuss the following with other Tokrophers:

What do these statements mean?
Globalisation; They are trying to destroy our way of life; The West; Weapons of mass Destruction

What is the difference between these words?

Joy Riding - Death Riding

Plant - Factory

Self-Confident - Arrogant (Loughborough springs to mind :-))

Affirmative action - Racial discrimination

Dedicated - Fanatical

Revolution - Civil War

Collateral Damage - Civilian Deaths

World Community - World Order

Great, now...are you paranoid yet?  Is Big Brother watching?  Here's your homework for next Thursday:

You must make a presentation lasting one minute telling the class about either a food you particularly like or dislike, explaining:

1) What is the food?

2) Do you like or dislike it?

3) Why do you like or dislike it?
You may not use any form of spoken or written language. You may, however, use up to five objects which you must bring with you.

During the presentation, the audience will not be allowed to ask questions. They will attempt to write down the answers to the three questions above.
It would be sensible to choose a food which is relatively simple to describe – most sensible would be one which you can bring as one of your five objects. Careful preparation and significant thought should go into choosing the objects and devising a way to communicate about them and the relationships between them. Without this the task will prove impossible.

And your bloggy-wog work for next Thursday:
Reflect on the following questions...
What is the role of language in creating and reinforcing social distinctions, such as class, ethnicity and gender?

What is the role of language in sustaining relationships of authority?

Can control of written language create or reinforce power?

How do the words we use to describe an idea affect our understanding of the world?

Well kiddos, that's all for now.  I really apologise for not being in today, but it couldn't be avoided.  I am looking forward to hearing how these tasks go over the next week and will see quite a few of you on Tuesday.  TTFN

PS - If you haven't ever read 1984, I suggest grabbing yourself a very old, well worn in copy - can be found in most used books shops or from a quirky relative - and emersing yourself in Orwell's dystopian classic.  I spent the better part of a walking trip through the French countryside during the summer of 2003 fretting over Winston and Julia's fates...I couldn't read and walk at the same time, so when forced to walk by my PE hubby and his PE fanatic family, I would fret...when given 15-20 minutes breaks, I would read!