Are we humans simply remodelled apes? Chimps with a tweak? Is the difference between our genomes so minuscule it justifies the argument that our cognition and behaviour must also differ from chimps by barely a whisker? If “chimps are us” should we grant them human rights? Or is this one of the biggest fallacies in the study of evolution? NOT A CHIMP argues that these similarities have been grossly over-exaggerated - we should keep chimps at arm’s length. Are humans cognitively unique after all?
Monday, 13 July 2009
Does Language Shape The Way We Think?
Do we humans all think in the same way, but express our thoughts differently depending upon which language we speak, or does the language we speak literally shape our thoughts? This interesting essay by Lera Boroditsky on EDGE aims to shed light on this perennial question and believes the latter is true. Particularly fascinating is her account on language and thought in the Kuuk Thayoore aborigines of northern Australia. Go to edge.org and scroll down to EDGE 289 for 12th June 2009.
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