Post #291144

I'm saddened by the intellectual constraint outlined below by BL Whorf, quoted in "Geometry, pregeometry and beyond" (pp. 435-464 of STUDIES IN HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE PART B, volume 36, issue 3, September 2005) by Meschini et al. "'It was found that the background linguistic system ... of each language is not merely a reproducing instrument for voicing ideas but rather is itself the shaper of ideas ... . We dissect nature along lines laid down by our native languages. The categories and types that we isolate from the world of phenomena we do not find there because they stare every observer in the face; on the contrary, the world is presented in a kaleidoscopic flux of impressions which has to be organized by our minds—and this means largely by the linguistic systems in our minds. "'This fact is very significant for modern science, for it means that no individual is free to describe nature with absolute impartiality but is constrained to certain modes of interpretation ... . We are thus introduced to a new principle of relativity, which holds that all observers are not led by the same physical evidence to the same picture of the universe, unless their linguistic backgrounds are similar, or can in some way be calibrated.'" To find out why this saddens me, see my previous journal quote (anniversary) today. #learning #linguistics