Kaz+Larsen

=__If people speak more than one languege, is what they know different in each languege?__ I believe that no matter what languege a person is speaking they do not know something different based on that concept. If a person is describing an object, place, or person they may describe them in a different way based on the languege they are speaking but their description is not changing because of it. The person could describe something in any languege and only tiny variations due to context, adjectives, and word usage will affect how describe what they know. In the end I think languege helps people describe what they know and does not impact what they know.= __Does each languege provide a different framework for reality?__ I believe that languege can provide a different way of seeing reality to a minor extent. Languege may be considered by some to be important to frameworking reality but I think that someone's cultural background and customs has a much larger effect than what languege they speak. Languege can be a gateway to connecting with certain people and places that speak the same languege as them and help create a new reality for them but ultimately it is their own personal beliefs that frame their reality. __Is it possible to think without languege? How does languege facilitate, extend, direct, or limit thinking?__ I believe that languege is necessairy for people to be able to think. There are some people who think visually but I think that most people talk to themselves in their head to grasp certain concepts and ideas that they must confront. Im not sure is different langueges can direct people's thinking but languege in its self is extremely important for people to be able to think.

Kaz please note it's langu a ge not languege. Let me know if I have understood you correctly, but I think what you are saying is that the denotations of words that people use to describe phenomena are going to be substantially the same regardless of the language used, and that therefore when, stripped back to its essentials, what people know about this or that phenomena will be the same. The connotations of the words may be different, but, in your opinion, the connotations of words are more often the result of an individual's belief system than the nuances of his/her particular language. I agree that an individual's belief-system is a major factor in the way s/he understands the world, but I would not underestimate the influence on a person's beliefs that attitudes embedded in a particular language can have, especially if someone is unaware of them.

__To what extent do our senses give us knowledge of the world as it really is?__ I believe that all of our knowledge of the world is obtained through our senses and everything we know is based on experience. Some people want to believe that some things spiritually come to people or something, but I don't think poeple are preprogrammed that way. If a person was born blind they would never know what a mountain, river, or desert would look like because there sense of sight will never let them experience it. Another belief that some people have is that people already have an idea in their head of what an object should look like so when they see it it automatically fits the description. The best thing about this theory is that right now it is unprovable and undisprovable so those who believe it get to live in ignorance until physics can catch up to them. In conclusion I think the earth is a stage and our senses are our way of observing and being a part of it. Yes, but people who hypothesize that we may be born with some innate ideas are not living in ignorance, but simply suggesting a possible solution for some puzzling phenomena such as, how do we categorize so quickly and effectively, why do we always search for and see things in terms of patterns, why do we think in terms of "necessary causation" as opposed to "sequence and coincidence", why do we collectively make the same assumptions about things we cannot see, like, "The back of the book is definitely there even when I cannot see it." and so on? I know you can come up with a pragmatic explanation for each of these, but none of them holds up once a rigorous skeptic starts pulling them apart. Personally, I am intrigued by Kant's suggestion that reality is inextricably connected to the way we human's are biologically set up to process the world. In that sense, our ideas are formed by an interplay between the innate and the sensed. And indeed one day physics and biology might come up with effective experiments to reveal whether we have any concepts in our minds before our interaction with the physical world begins, although I can't for the life of me think how they will do that. That being said, I also tend to agree with you that all our knowledge of the world is dependent on our senses, in that I think (tentatively) that whatever innate ideas or dispositions we might have, none of them has any function until stimulated (activated might be a better word) by sensory experiences. =__How, and to what extent, might expectations, assumptions and beliefs affect sense perceptions?__ I believe that our senses interpret everything in reality and what affects our perception is our expectations, assumptions, and beliefs that decide how we interpret what we just experienced. Factors including our upbringing, enviroment, age, and lifestyle affect our view on everything that we run into and encounter.= Yes, I too think that we rarely, if ever, limit our cognitive response to a sense experience to the basic content of the experience, we almost always add in a whole slew of associations, connections and emotions in order to interpret and fit this new information in with the rest of our belief system. =__What is the role of culture and language in the perceptual process?__ I think a person's culture and language greatly affect how they might percieve something. When someone encounters and percieves something, language and culture can be barriers which lead to misunderstanding, confusion, and maybe anger or sadness. Culture is a extremely important aspect of how people percieve their surroundings and other people. Also language is a barrier between people being able to communicate and understand each other. In conclusion, culture and language can greatly affect how someone percieves the enviroment around them.= To what extent do you think we can override cultural and linguistic influences once we are aware of them? Good work, I like that you are blunt. Makes for much better discussion. 6/7

__Kaz Larsen__ 1. I am 16 years old and i believe age can have a huge impact on how a person percieves or believes in something. New generations come up with new ideas and lifestyles which may be differant from previous generations. Age groups tend to percieve things in a similar way with people of their own age but there are other factors such as surroundings and how they were brought up that can change how someone percieves the world aroung them. Yes, this is insightful of you. Peoples' ages influence their outlook not just simply because of the number of years lived, but because they are developing their belief-systems in different contexts from previous generations. =2. I speak english and I am studying french right now in school. I believe that the amount of differant langueges someone speaks can help the communicate around the world. English seems to be the most worldly languege right now because it can take someone to most places on earth, but it was not always like that. When people speak differant langueges and can not understand eachother predjutuces and intolerance can begin because of that lack of communication. Langues can be a wall between nations and people but when someone learns another languege that is not their native one it shows their ambition to become a more accepting and tolerate person towards people in a differant country.= Good point - just the willingness to learn another language marks a shift in openness. =3. I am male and I think that sex realley impacts how a person percieves differant ideas and concepts. Emotions and ideas can be differant between men and women so it important that everyone identifies with their own bias and realizes not to judge the oppisite sex for their own ideas.= I like that you saw this question from a different viewpoint than others (at least so far). You have focussed not on equality or parity, but genuine differences. Research is ongoing in this area with studies being done to try and discover whether cognitive ability and functioning is gender-based, how significant this might be and how innate i.e. biologically determined, it is (nature v. nurture). The data so far suggests that cognitive differences biologically are small, tiny, in fact, in comparison with the similarities (although, of course, it depends whose interpretation of the data you trust). Nevertheless, I still think, as clearly do you, that some gender stereotypes may be founded in reality, although they may arise more from conditioning, expectations and opportunities than from the inevitable result of biology. =4. I live in a urban setting and i feel that where a person grows up can realley change how they think and percieve the world around them. For instance someone who lives in a rural setting is only surrounded by people who tend to believe in the same ideals which means that person is not exposed to anything else untill they have fully matured. People in urban areas are constantly surrounded by differant ideas and opinions so they are able to have a more open mind to differant concepts.= =5. I am Christian but I am pretty liberal about my worldview and i try not to judge others on their beliefs and views on life. A persons spiritual upbringing can affect how they feel about differant world issues and how they feel on differant controversial topics.= =6. I believe that there are many differant external and internal influences on how a person percieves the world around them. A few influences that affect people are their education, what area of the world they live in, and how they are brought up. All of the concepts shape a persons opinion and their beliefs.= Very interesting responses, thank you. 6/7