Does language limit the mind, allow it more freedom, both, neither, or something else entirely?

I think it allows the mind more freedom through communication

I think that if something, language limits the mind. If u think about it, our brain receives tons of information. Only about 5% of that information we can remember and those 5%, which consist of dreams, thoughts, feares and hopes, subconscious feelings... surely all of that, created by life itself, is impossible to express in language, which after all is only a human creation. Maybe only a part, like 20% of those 5... but not more. Also, I think that how much the language hinders the mind depends on the person, for example poets and writers have a much thinner barrier between language and mind, I believe. But for us regular people that barrier sure is thick..)

>>3 Language is not a human invention; animals use language to communicate the same as we do.

Everything we do is expressed through language of some kind. Without it, we would have no way to communicate our ideas, thus meaning we could accomplish next to nothing.

Agreed... spoken/written language is only one of the many forms of language that all work in conjunction with each other all at once.

Language may allow for communication with others, but does it limit individual thought?

How could it? Many great ideas are sparked through conversation.

well, exactly. communication and expressing your mind isn't always the same thing. The mind is simply a larger and more complicated concept than language. in the end, it is the language that exceeds from the mind and not the other way around.

>>8 Name any form of expression and I'll tell you what kind of language it is.

>>9 OP is referring to spoken language, Sergio.

>>9 The point to be made there isn't that all expression is language in one form or another, because lets face it, language only becomes expression once it is put into context.

language does not the limit the mind in any way, it just limits one's ability to communicate one's thought to others

Moving on, I think that languages limit the mind. As much as I love learning different languages, and as much as I think speaking, writing, and reading are absolutely amazing and useful activities, I still think that languages limit the mind.

There are so many things that people think and feel, but language can't explain it all. I think everyone has had feelings that language just couldn't explain. So many people shrug it off or put the wrong words to it, and it destroys that feeling. That idea. That inexplicable something.

I think we humans are a very intelligent species, but we've gone over the top with our intelligence, to the point where we're stopping ourselves from getting any farther with it. The way we use our languages works but not as well as it could. People have become overly dependent on spoken/written language, to the point where most people barely notice and understand body languages.

In my opinion, animals communicate better than humans do. We have fancy words and poetry, and we can say colors and numbers and explain exactly what we want, but long ago we could express half of this without needing words. By small gestures it was understandable what we wanted. By certain glances or movements our intentions were obvious - just as they are with animals. The fact that you can even lie to someone is proof of that; words have become too fancy.

Again, I love language. I'm a writer and public speaker. However, I think there are some things that language just can't explain, as well as that people are becoming overly dependent on it.

>>13 This post is referring to "language" as the idea of using spoken/written words. While other things may be able to be called a language (body language, for instance, which I think we should use more of), that post is not referring to them as "languages."

Language does not limit the mind, nor does it give the mind more freedom. It simply alters it.
There is a language where there are no past tense forms. While I'm sure there are ways you can talk about the past if absolutely necessary, it prevents people from thinking in past tense. Most people tend to think in their native language unless in a conversation in another language. To think in a language that has no past tense, prevents you from thinking in past tense. If you have a harder time thinking in past tense, you are less likely to think about the past.

I do not see this as limiting or freeing. It simply changes the way you look at the world. If you can no longer think of the past, you'll be less concerned with what HAD happened and more concerned with what WILL happen or what IS happening. It could cause people to see a situation differently than a language with past tense verbs.

Then you have the unspoken languages as stated in >>14. I would have forgotten had I not read that post. I don't see how I can when it is such a big part of my daily life, but I usually associate language with words. The unspoken language again alters the state of mind. Since a simply movement can mean so many different things, it can cause one to think more. A person has to contemplate what a smile means associated with a certain hand gesture and posture. It also depends on the context as well as the fine details. Since so much can make a difference, it requires people to be more observant and think more upon the possible meanings. Again, I do not see this as limiting or freeing. I simply see it as an altered state of mind. I tend to think differently when using body language to communicate with my friends back-and-forth. There are no other changes that I perceive with using this form of language verses english.

I also have some experience with french. Again you have to think differently than you have to do for english. French have saying that make no sense in English and vise versa. For instance, the french have a saying that goes, "I saw a radish." It means, "I saw a bad movie." The english language words things differently than french. For instance, here we say, "I sit in a seat on a bus." Taken literally that would be quite uncomfortable. The proper wording would be," I saton a seat in a bus." While this makes more sense, it is still not the way it's worded.

Forgive me for I have much more to say on the subject, but have been unable to organize my thoughts. My wording is terrible, but that shall not improve until I get my thoughts in order. I hope that this is still insightful despite my lack of detail, and the fact that many of my sentences could be improved with the use of better words. The ideas I have put down are ideas that have been playing with for a while now, but are still unorganized. I didn't see the need to put it into words because I thought I'd never share it.

bump over saged

bump

bump

bumping over saged.

bump

Words hold the power to transcend time. Feelings from the past are able to be passed down to the people in the future should one choose to listen back to them.

I don't think that words are a limiter either. Then again, it asl depends on how the words are used. For example: If I say I can do anything. Then there is nothing to stop me from being my best. If I say I can do nothing. Then nothing can be done.

xD Feels like a waste to say it this way, but this is what I feel.

>>21 If you can do nothing than there is something that you can do..

Bump (:

The Dollars don't have color I mean as you see its all black and grey

>>24
No. The Dollars are not black and grey. We are colorless. You are thinking of color from the pigment perspective where black, white, and mixes of the two (such as grey) are not colors. And because of this you have assumed that we are black and grey. However, this is a misinterpretation. When the word colorless is used, it should be use according to its light, not pigment definition. In this case (which is also the right case), black, white, etc. are colors. Therefore, When one says that the Dollars are colorless, it means that they are transparent or clear, like glass.

wow asta ahora alguien me lo aclara xD solo tenia un concepto no sabia que era exactamente :3 gracias