Is Language Really That Powerful? | Tassos Lycurgo
Summary
TLDRIn this episode of 'Testable Faith,' host Ken Samples discusses the impact of language on thought with visiting scholar Tsos Lergö. They explore how controlling language can manipulate thinking, the importance of linguistic freedom, and the Marxist influence on language change. They also address the shift in societal focus from truth, goodness, and beauty to race, gender, and class, and the detrimental effects of this on education and individuality. The conversation emphasizes the need for critical thinking and exposure to diverse worldviews for intellectual growth.
Takeaways
- 📚 Language shapes our thinking: The script emphasizes that language is a powerful tool that can control and shape our thoughts and ideas.
- 🚫 Control over language as a means of control over thought: It is suggested that controlling language is a method to control people's autonomy and independent thinking.
- 🗣️ The importance of linguistic freedom: The speaker advocates for the freedom to choose one's own words and resist external control over language.
- 🤔 The challenge of offensive language: The discussion touches on the concept of offensive language and the need to consider the impact of our words on others.
- 🔄 The manipulation of language in Brazil: The script describes how language is being manipulated in Brazil, with words being deemed offensive and then acceptable again, affecting thought processes.
- 🌐 The impact of government on language: It is mentioned that governments are making official changes to language to control speech, which is a new development in history.
- 🏫 The role of education in controlling thought: The script suggests that by controlling education, authorities can manipulate how people think and what they believe.
- 🔄 The destruction of individuality: The emphasis is on how collective identity is prioritized over individual identity, which is detrimental to personal freedom and thought.
- 🎨 The inversion of traditional values in art: The script criticizes modern art for being the opposite of truth, goodness, and beauty, exposing children to harmful cultural influences.
- 🏛️ The shift from classical values to race, gender, and class: It is argued that society has moved away from traditional values and towards focusing on race, gender, and class as the primary lenses through which to view the world.
- 🌈 The rejection of diversity in thought: The script points out that while there is talk of diversity, in practice, there is an expectation of conformity in thought, especially in educational institutions.
Q & A
What is the main topic of discussion in the interview with Tsos Lergo Tsos?
-The main topic of discussion is the influence of language on thought and the Marxist context of language control in society.
Why is controlling language considered a method to control thought?
-Controlling language is seen as a method to control thought because language shapes our thinking and without the ability to express certain ideas, one's thought can be limited or directed.
What does Tsos Lergo Tsos suggest about the current efforts to control language?
-Tsos Lergo Tsos suggests that there is a deliberate effort to control language, which is unusual in history, with the aim of controlling people's thoughts and behaviors.
How does Tsos Lergo Tsos view the idea that certain words can be offensive?
-Tsos Lergo Tsos questions the idea that certain words are offensive, implying that the concept is used as a tool for language control rather than a genuine concern for inclusivity.
What is the role of education in the context of controlling thought?
-Education plays a critical role in controlling thought as it can be used to encourage conformity and discourage independent thinking by promoting a specific worldview or ideology.
How does Tsos Lergo Tsos describe the impact of current educational practices on individuality?
-Tsos Lergo Tsos describes the impact as destructive to individuality, as people are encouraged to identify with collective groups rather than as unique individuals with their own thoughts and perspectives.
What does Tsos Lergo Tsos believe should be the focus of art and cultural production?
-Tsos Lergo Tsos believes that art and cultural production should focus on truth, goodness, and beauty, rather than promoting the opposite values as seen in current trends.
What is the connection between the prism of race, gender, and class and the traditional values of truth, goodness, and beauty?
-The prism of race, gender, and class represents a shift away from traditional values, focusing instead on categorizing and controlling people based on these aspects rather than promoting universal human values.
How does Tsos Lergo Tsos view the importance of being exposed to different worldviews?
-Tsos Lergo Tsos views exposure to different worldviews as essential for intellectual growth and the development of independent viewpoints, allowing individuals to discern truth through evidence and rational thought.
What does Tsos Lergo Tsos suggest is the current state of universities in Brazil regarding diversity of thought?
-Tsos Lergo Tsos suggests that the majority of universities in Brazil are dominated by a single ideology—communism—which does not truly accept diversity of thought but rather enforces conformity.
What does the concept of 'test all things and hold on to the good' imply in the context of education and thought?
-The concept implies the importance of critical thinking and the examination of various viewpoints to discern what is truly valuable or 'good,' encouraging intellectual freedom and the pursuit of truth.
Outlines
🗣️ The Power and Control of Language
In this paragraph, the discussion centers on the significant role language plays in shaping our thoughts and the potential for its manipulation to control society. The guest, Tsos Lergo Tsos, highlights the Marxist context where language is being controlled to influence thinking, emphasizing the importance of individual linguistic autonomy. The conversation also touches on the changing nature of language and how it is being manipulated to restrict thought, with examples from Brazil where certain words are deemed offensive and then acceptable again, illustrating the government's attempts to control speech and, by extension, thought.
🎨 The Shift from Truth, Goodness, and Beauty to Race, Gender, and Class
This section delves into the societal shift from classical Christian values of truth, goodness, and beauty to the modern focus on race, gender, and class. The conversation suggests that contemporary art and cultural production often promote values that are contrary to these classical ideals, leading to a society that is exposed to negative influences. The speakers also discuss the dangers of categorizing people based on their sexual orientation or race, rather than recognizing them as individuals capable of independent thought. The paragraph concludes with a call for a return to classical education that encourages critical thinking and exposure to diverse viewpoints.
🕵️♂️ The Importance of Freedom and Critical Thinking
The final paragraph emphasizes the importance of freedom, particularly intellectual freedom, as a prerequisite for a fulfilling life. It discusses the Apostle Paul's advice to test all things and hold on to the good, suggesting that this is a model for critical thinking. The conversation also touches on the need for exposure to different worldviews to foster intellectual growth. The paragraph concludes with a call to return to classical education, which values diverse viewpoints and the development of independent thought, as opposed to the current trend of promoting uniformity in thought and language.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Language Control
💡Linguistic Ability
💡Inclusive Language
💡Individuality
💡Propaganda
💡Classical Liberal Education
💡Truth, Goodness, and Beauty
💡Collective Identity
💡Critical Thinking
💡Freedom of Thought
Highlights
Language shapes our thinking and controlling language can control thought.
The importance of maintaining individual linguistic autonomy to ensure free thought.
The Marxist context of language use and its impact on society.
The idea that language can be offensive and the implications for thought control.
The natural evolution of language versus government-controlled language reform.
The impact of language control on individual thought and the ability to reason properly.
The manipulation of education to control people's thinking rather than encouraging independent thought.
The destruction of individuality and the promotion of collective identity over personal identity.
The shift from classical Christian values to modern societal prisms of race, gender, and class.
The opposition of truth, goodness, and beauty in contemporary art and culture.
The use of sexual and racial categories as a means of controlling people's thoughts and behaviors.
The importance of developing independent viewpoints and critical thinking in education.
The lack of diversity in worldviews presented in communist education systems.
The necessity of exposure to different worldviews for intellectual growth and the development of one's beliefs.
The call for a return to classical education that fosters intellectual freedom and diverse viewpoints.
The value of freedom and the assertion that it may be more important than life itself.
The Apostle Paul's advice to test all things and hold on to the good as a metaphor for critical thinking.
Transcripts
[Music]
welcome to testable faith I'm Ken
samples I'm joined today by visiting
scholar tsos lergo tsos it's quite an
honor to have you visiting with us here
at rtb I'm really glad to have you with
me on this program thank you Ken is a
privilege for me to be here well you
have uh a extensive academic background
in Brazil you have served as a professor
you've served as an attorney a a lawyer
um I want to talk to you about a subject
that I think is very very important as
it relates to a secular critique of our
society and that has to do with the the
challenge of
language um you know often here in
America we have uh there are certain
terms that are offensive they're not
inclusive enough tell us a little bit
about how language is being being used
in kind of a uh Marxist kind of context
and and what the result of that is yeah
this is a very important question and
one of the most important discoveries of
the 20th uh century was that language
shapes our thinking shapes our thought
you you cannot think outside your
linguistic
ability so if you want to control one's
thought you can do it controlling one's
language this is why we see everywhere
no efforts to control the language
sometimes you don't feel comfortable in
using the words you would like to use if
you give someone your linguistic aomy
you are giving the autonomy of your
thought so if you you giv to someone the
possibility of him to control the way
you think I mean you can't give that to
anyone even to to the government and you
can't do that you have to be an
individual a free thinker so be very
aware of the importance of your
linguistic ability you have to be feel
very comfortable in choosing your own
words so this idea that language can be
offensive is uh something that you have
to consider is it really I mean if you
call someone you know little things I'm
not saying that you should do that but
if you do that is it really really that
offensive yeah this is what's happening
I mean it's it all pointing to the idea
that we want to control your language
and therefore we going to control your
thinking even even the reforms in the
language right uh over there in Brazil
they change the language all the all the
time language changes but it changes
naturally there is no situation the
history of humankind be know before this
uh generation they they try to do that
but there's no real situation as it is
nowadays where the government is
officially making changes in the
language just to control the way you
speak you cannot you have to use like
neutral language you have to use this
this is not acceptable this word can be
used now but now tomorrow is it is
offensive and then it comes back to be
used in Brazil is like that there are
some words we used to use them then they
say that it is offensive and now we use
the same word that they say there is
offensive now is acceptable in back they
are messing up with our linguistic
ability and therefore we can't think
properly so as we think about education
um obviously when you want to control
people you want to control how they are
educated so instead of encouraging
people to think for themselves you don't
tell tell them but you encourage them to
discover there is a there is a way of
manipulation I mean this in large
measure is an element of propaganda
exactly the individuality is being
destroyed absolutely destroyed I mean
people are encouraged to identify
themselves as as an element of a
collective group instead of identifying
themselves as individuals yeah you know
like say I am
they say I am a woman before an
individual I am a Indian before an
individual I am something before
individual I am black before an
individual I am white before individual
no you are an individual the colorful
skin the your sex I don't say gender
your sex male or female or anything that
you are is attributes that you have but
you are a free thinker you are
individual your thought cannot be
controlled by external characteristics
yeah as the government wants uh you to
think now one way of kind of thinking
about this is that classical
Christianity has looked at the world
through the prism of Truth goodness and
Beauty I think today in the western
world it's not truth goodness and Beauty
the prism is race gender in class do you
do you think that that's fair I think it
is uh and you can say also the same
thing the art production in nowadays is
the opposite of true Truth uh goodness
and beauty is the opposite the art in
nowadays is evil is bad and it is
false so we are no expose exposing our
kids the children to uh cultural
production artistic production that are
the opposite of how they should be so we
have to be very very concerned about
this the thing you that you said every
everything is sex I mean sexual oriented
or racial oriented these are ways that
they use to control people putting them
in these C categories I mean if someone
behaves as a homosexual they say is that
terminant determinant for the way he
thinks is determines the agenda he has
right it's not like that I mean you are
free you can a homosexual can disagree
with the no another homosexual as he can
disagree with a heterosexual yeah but
they try to make people think that you
you are a collective group instead of
being an individual again the idea then
is that uh in instead of individuality
instead of growing in your thought and
your reflection I mean I like to think
of a student they develop their own
independent View points about the nature
of reality that's what we that's what we
call
education but here the idea is that
people think in
categories uh all homosexual people
think alike or they think according to
the standard of lgbtq for example or or
there is one woman perspective or this
is how blacks think rather than the idea
that all people are made in the image of
God they can think they can reason they
can discover truth and I think it's very
powerful we talk about truth goodness
and Beauty but now we have falseness
Badness and ugliness exactly you 100%
right and I would add to that uh in
order you to increase I mean if you
really be a thinker you have to be
exposed to Different World Views and the
other thing that commonism is doing is
that they are they try to do the same
thing the communism just just accept one
word v in schools University
universities in Brazil the majority of
universities Almost 100% of them are
communist the only diversity that
communism accepts is this is is if it is
the same thing you know they accept
diversity as long as it is the same
thing I mean it makes people
unintelligent students have to be no uh
exposed to Different World Views yes is
the opposition of the World Views
Different World Views where he can
choose which one is true I mean I go
this way that way because I see evidence
for this evidence for that because I
rationalize what I seen this is how
people grow intellectually and in
nowadays what we see they professors at
the University have to teach the same
thing have to use the same language even
in school if a professor is a freeth
thinker I mean if he says that doesn't
matter if you are Black White whatever
mixed whatever you're you one just as in
Galatians 328 you are one doesn't mean
if you're a Jew or Gentile man or woman
if you're are free or slave does I mean
they said that in Galatians right it
doesn't mean what you are you are
individual doesn't matter what you are
you are individual so let's raise let's
grow up intellectually there you have
different World Views position yourself
study a lot no this is what has to be
done so careful thinking critical
thinking uh what we often have called in
the past a classical liberal education
where you're exposed to differing
viewpoints uh pros and cons you consider
the best argument on the other side I'm
100% sure about that let's get back to
the triv quadri yes let's get back to
the Classic Education this is where we
know we had like very intelligent people
people that really created different
different ways of seeing things uh this
is the beauty yes of thinking is that
you free right freedom is something very
very important some people say that
Liberty freedom is even more important
than life you can't have life fully if
you're not
free very good well as the Apostle Paul
said test all things and hold on to the
good if you want to learn more about
tsos lergo you can go on reasons.org
you'll find articles and tsos it's a
pleasure to have you as a visiting
scholar and and I'm really glad to have
you on this program the pleasure is all
mine thank you thank
[Music]
you
[Music]
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