【英語脳を手に入れる】世界的な心理言語学者 ビオリカ・マリアンと「言語の力」／母語以外で思考すると、人考え方も変わる？／バイリンガルは才能なのか【PIVOT GLOBAL】

Summary

このトークは言語の力と多言語話者についての洞察を提供します。言語は文化と密接に関連しており、異なる言語を話すことで異なる思考や意思決定が促されます。また、多言語を話す人々は新しい言語を学ぶことで異なる視点を内包し、より柔軟な思考が可能になります。言語は私たちの現実の認識を形成し、コミュニケーションを通じて新しいアイデアや経験を捉えるのに役立ちます。

Takeaways

• 言語は人々の意思決定に影響を与える。同じ意思決定を、第一言語と第二言語で異なる結果が生まれることがある。
• 言語学習は天賦の能力だけでなく、人間の多言語習得の傾向にも由来する。どちらの要素も真実である。
• 世界の人口の大部分はバイリンガルである。これは、一つの言語しか話さない研究に比べて、人間の本質を不完全に捉えてしまう。
• 言語は文化と密接に関連しており、異なる文化的背景を持つ言語は、異なるニュアンスや価値観をもたらす。
• 言語の習得は、個人のアイデンティティや思考の方式に影響を与える。異なる言語を話すと、自分が異なる人物になるような感覚を経験する。
• 異なる言語を話すことで、ストレスの多い状況での意思決定において、異なる答えを導き出すことがある。多言語を用いることで、意思決定の柔軟性が向上する。
• 言語は現実の認識を形成する強い変数であり、言語によって物事をフィルターリングし、ラベルを貼ることで、現実を理解しやすくする。
• 言語における性別文法は、無生物に対する人々の認識に影響を与える。性別文法を持つ言語を話す人々は、無生物を性別に基づくステレオタイプで捉える傾向がある。
• 言語学習は、新しい経験への開放性や柔軟性に関連している。多言語を暴露されると、創造力や認知的柔軟性に好影響が現れる。
• SNSなどのメディアは、異なるアイデアや視点に曝れることで、世界をより良い方へ変える可能性を持っているが、エコーチェンバー効果が生じることもあり、バイアスを強化する可能性がある。
• 言語の多様性は、認知機能や執行機能に影響を与える。多言語を用いることで、認知能力が向上し、アルツハイマー病のリスクを減少させる可能性がある。

Q & A

言語が人々の意思決定にどのように影響を与えるか説明してください。

言語は私たちの経験と文化に深く関連接しており、言語を切り替えることで異なることが前面に来ます。異なる記憶、関連性、経験が決断の場で影響を与えます。例えば、医療決定、ビジネス、個人関係においても、言語によって異なる意思決定がなされます。

日本語版の「The Power of Language」の本のカバーについてどう思いますか？

私は日本語版の「The Power of Language」の本のカバーが非常に素晴らしいと思います。それが私のお気に入りのカバーの一つです。

英語と日本語のバージョンの調子の違いについてどう思いますか？

英語版はより強い主張をしていますが、日本語版は同じことをより柔らかく述べています。これは文化的背景の違いによるもので、日本の文化ではものを押し出すことはあまり避けられ、表現は控えめで、予約的です。英語を話すアメリカでは直接的で明確な表現が好まれます。

世界人口のほとんどがバイリンガルであることを驚きましたが、どうしてですか？

世界中の多くの国では、子供たちが幼少期から2つの言語を受け入れ、その後さらに言語を学ぶことが一般的です。これは研究が主に一言語話者に焦点を当てているため、この大きな人口セグメントが見落とされ、人の心の理解が不完全で不正確になる原因です。

言語学習において「天才」は存在すると思いますか？

一部の人間には言語学習の才能が存在しますが、地理的なバイリンガル性やマルチリンガル性を見ると、言語学習の能力は環境や教育にも大きく影響を受けています。誰もが言語を学ぶ能力を持ち、それを使用して認知能力を向上させることができます。

異なる言語を話すときにどのように異なる思考方式が現れるか例を挙げてください。

例えば、母国語で話すと道徳的な決定を下すことが多く、第二言語で話すとより実用的で合理的な決定を下すことが多いです。また、言語によって個人のペルソナリティの異なる側面が現れます。

言語が私たちの現実の認識にどのように影響を与えるか説明してください。

言語は現実をフィルタリングし、物事をラベル付けることで、私たちの知覚を整理し、理解を助けます。例えば、虹の色の数や食品の味わいについて、言語によって私たちの感知と記憶が異なるように影響を与えます。

言語学習は認知機能にどのように影響を与えるか説明してください。

言語学習は脳の認知能力や実行機能、高次元認知に影響を与えます。異なる符号体系を学ぶことで、脳は情報伝達の方法を多様化し、認知能力を向上させることができます。

SNSが人々の思考を狭める可能性があると思いますか？

SNSは-cross-cultural communicationの可能性を提供しますが、アルゴリズムがエコーチェンバームを形成し、特定の意見が増幅されることがあります。これにより、偏見が強化され、広い視野を持つことが困難になることがあります。

多言語話者が多い地域は社会分裂を解消する可能性がありますか？

多言語話者は異なる文化や視点を理解しやすく、コミュニケーションを向上させることができます。これにより、社会的分裂や政治的分裂を緩和する可能性があります。

言語学習の始めに取るべきステップは何ですか？

言語学習を始めるには、基礎的な文法と語彙を学び、実践的な会話の機会を探し、継続的な学習と練習を行うことが重要です。また、異なる文化への露出も言語学習プロセスを豊かにします。

Outlines

00:00

🌐 言語の力と文化の違い

この段落では、言語が人々の意思決定にどのように影響を与えるか、またアメリカ文化と日本文化の違いについて説明されています。英語と日本語で同じ本を読むと、異なる印象を受けることがあるという事例も紹介されています。また、日本語版のカバーデザインが好評であることや、言語と文化が密接に関連していることが述べられています。

05:00

🌍 世界中のバイリンガル

この段落では、世界中の多くの人々がバイリンガルであることが明らかにされています。特に、子供たちは幼少期から2つの言語を学ぶことが一般的であり、さらに後で追加の言語を学ぶことも指摘されています。心理学言語学者である話者の経験から、言語によって思考の方式が変わることが示されています。

10:02

💡 意思決定と言語の選択

この段落では、言語の選択が意思決定にどのように影響するかについて詳細に説明されています。具体的には、同じ問題を母国語と第二言語で問うと、回答が異なることが示されています。この違いは、困難な意思決定をするために、複数の言語で問題を考慮することが役立つことを示しています。

15:03

🌟 言語学習と認知能力

この段落では、言語学習が認知能力にどのように影響を与えるかについて述べられています。言語は私たちの経験や記憶に影響を与え、意思決定やビジネス、医療決定、個人関係においても異なる影響を与えることが示されています。また、言語学習は年齢に関係なく始めることができ、認知能力を向上させることが证明されています。

20:03

🌈 言語と現実の認識

この段落では、言語が私たちの現実の認識にどのように影響を与えるかについて説明されています。言語は私たちの感覚をフィルターし、世界を理解するための枠組みを提供する役割を果たしています。例えば、虹の色の数や食物や酒に関する詳細な表現は、言語によって異なることを示しています。

25:05

🤖 AIと文化的交流

この段落では、AIの発展と文化的交流の可能性について話し及されています。言語の多様性によって開放的な思考や創造力を向上させることができ、社会的メディアがどのようにして人々をより広い視野を持つように導くかについても議論されています。しかし、アルゴリズムがエコーチェンバーを形成し、バイアスを強化する可能性があることも指摘されています。

Keywords

💡言語

言語は、人間の経験や文化に深く関連しているコミュニケーションのツールです。このトークでは、言語が私たちの意思決定や思考パターンにどのように影響を与えるかについて説明されています。例えば、異なる言語を話すことで、異なる思考方式や価値観が前面に現れ、意思決定に影響を与えることが示されています。

💡バイリンガル

バイリンガルとは、2つ以上の言語を話す能力を持つ人々のことを指します。本トークでは、世界中の多くの人々がバイリンガルであることが明らかになり、それが私たちの認知能力や意思決定にどのように影響を与えるかについて説明されています。また、バイリンガルであることで、異なる文化的背景を持つ人とのコミュニケーションや理解が容易になることも触れられています。

💡認知能力

認知能力とは、人間の知覚、注意、記憶、言語、問題解決などの精神的機能を指します。このトークでは、言語が私たちの認知能力にどのように影響を与えるか、特に異なる言語を学ぶことで知性や意思決定の柔軟性が向上する可能性があることが強調されています。

💡文化

文化は、人間の社会において共有される習慣、信仰、芸術、モラルなどが含まれる概念です。このトークでは、言語と文化が密接に関連しており、異なる言語を学ぶことで異なる文化的背景や価値観に曝されることが示されています。また、文化の違いが言語によってどのように表現されるか、例えば日本語と英語の表現の違いなどが説明されています。

💡意思決定

意思決定とは、個人やグループが選択肢から1つを選んだ際のプロセスを指します。このトークでは、言語が意思決定にどのように影響を与えるかについて詳細に説明されています。例えば、同じ倫理的ジレンマを異なる言語で提示した際に、選択肢が変わる可能性があることが示されています。

💡心理学

心理学は、人間の心の働きや行動を研究する学問です。このトークでは、心理学と言語学の分野である心理言語学から、言語が私たちの心理的な状態や行動にどのように影響を与えるかについて説明されています。

💡倫理学

倫理学は、道徳的な行動や判断に関する研究を扱う学問です。このトークでは、言語が倫理的なジレンマや意思決定にどのように影響を与えるかについて触れられています。

💡アイデンティティ

アイデンティティとは、個人が自分自身を認識し、周囲の人に認識される独特のセットの特徴を指します。このトークでは、言語がアイデンティティにどのように関連しているか、異なる言語を用いることでアイデンティティがどのように変化するかについて説明されています。

💡コミュニケーション

コミュニケーションは、情報や意見を共有するために人々の間で行われる相互作用を指します。このトークでは、言語がコミュニケーションにどのように影響を与えるか、特に異なる言語を理解することの重要性について強調されています。

💡言語学習

言語学習は、第二言語または他言語を学ぶプロセスを指します。このトークでは、言語学習が認知能力や意思決定にどのように影響を与えるか、また言語学習を通じて個人のアイデンティティやコミュニケーションスキルがどのように発展するかについて説明されています。

💡多様性

多様性は、多くの異なる種類や形態の存在を指します。このトークでは、言語の多様性がどのように私たちの社会や文化を豊かにし、異なる言語を理解することの重要性について強調されています。

Highlights

Language and decision-making are closely connected, with changes in language affecting the choices people make.

Bilingual individuals may make different decisions based on the language they use, with native language often leading to more emotional decisions and second language to more rational ones.

The power of language is evident in how it can change the way we perceive and interact with the world around us.

Learning a new language can provide a different perspective and enhance cognitive flexibility, potentially leading to better decision-making.

The majority of the world's population is bilingual, which is often surprising given that much research focuses on monolingual individuals.

Language learning is not just about communication but also about understanding different cultures and mindsets.

Even though some individuals may have a natural talent for language learning, everyone has the capacity to learn multiple languages.

Language shapes our reality by influencing how we label, reason about, and understand the world.

The number of colors seen in a rainbow can vary based on the language and culture, showing how language structures our perception.

Grammatical gender in languages can affect how inanimate objects are perceived and described, demonstrating the subtle ways language influences thought.

Being bilingual or multilingual can lead to more open-mindedness and better performance on creativity and cognitive flexibility tasks.

Social media, while having the potential to broaden perspectives, can also create echo chambers that reinforce existing biases.

The development of AI and technology should be mindful of avoiding the perpetuation of biases and ensuring diverse voices are represented.

Speaking multiple languages can have cognitive benefits, such as potentially decreasing the risk of Alzheimer's disease.

Language learning is not limited to natural languages but also includes various forms of communication and symbolic systems like music and math.

The way we remember and recount our life experiences can change depending on the language we use at the time.

The perception of reality is subjective and can be significantly influenced by the language we speak.

Language can impose structure on our sensory experiences, affecting how we comprehend and interact with the world.

The book 'The Power of Language' discusses how language is intertwined with our experiences and can influence various aspects of our lives, including business decisions.

Transcripts

five people and you have to push someone

if you ask people in their native

language their mother Tong 20% of the

time they will say yes I would push a

person to say fine but when you ask them

in the second language about 33% of uh

of the bilingual participants would say

that yes it is permissible or I would

push this person to save the life of

five people same person same decision

making and then you change the language

and the decision the outcome differs do

you think that uh there are people who

are good at learning the language or as

human beings we used to learning

multiple languages yes and yes so both

of those things are

[Music]

true

for

so Dr Via Maran welcome to

pivit thank you for having me so to um

today we're going to talk about your

book The Power language uh in fact

there's a Japanese version out it's very

wonderful it's a great cover and I read

it in both Japanese and English and it

gave me different impression so I'm

always really realizing the power

language thank you yes you're right the

Japanese edition just came out and I

have to say I love the covers well it's

one of my favorite covers of all the

international editions so thank you so

it seemed to me that the English version

was more strong statement of you trying

to convince me that the power language

as opposed to the Japanese version it

was more softer tone even though it was

saying the same thing so I was very

surprised to read both

languages oh that's really interesting

to hear so I don't uh speak Japanese

fluently I'm actually uh learning it

with a with a language learning app now

but of course not at the level where I

could write a book in Japanese so uh we

had translators translated and then we

had um experts in the field in Japan

check it for content and that's not

surprising that you found somewhat

different energies and tones uh coming

from the two languages in fact that's

very typical because language culture

are so closely connected and the

Japanese culture and the American

culture differ where um it's very often

the case that in Japan

you don't push things as much and you

are much more tactful and reserved in

how you express yourself as opposed to

being much more direct when you uh speak

in English in the United States so the

writing in the book reflects these

cultural norms because they target

different

readers it's interesting because you

mentioned in your book that if you learn

a different language you have a

different mindset and which will

probably affect uh even decisions in

business so that was a very interesting

point about your book yeah it's true

well language is so connected to our

experiences to culture that when you

switch between languages different

things come to the Forefront different

memories different associations

different experiences and it does

influence decision- making in a range of

uh of settings

um people think differently about

themselves people make different

decisions uh in medical decision making

in business uh even in personal

relationships because emotion is filed

differently through language um

likelihood of cheating varies across

languages different aspects of one's

personality comes out depending on which

language you are using at any given time

ah interesting so I have tons of

questions to ask you but um I'll divide

it into three parts the first part I

want to ask about the majority of the

world's population is my by bilingual

which surprised me very much so we to

talk about that and the second uh about

the reality of the world um you you you

stated that it's shaped by languages so

like we discussed before that maybe we

think or act differently if we learn a

different language and number three uh

since our audience are all Business

Leaders in each communities we want to

learn tips to learning a new language

and finally maybe we can discuss that

maybe if we have more bilingual people

in the world that will lead to solve

social divide or maybe political divide

which we're confronting in other parts

of the world so uh my first question is

about uh what was surprising that the

majority of the world's population is

actually bilingual what do you mean by

that yeah so I am a psycholinguist uh

psych Linguistics is this field of the

intersection of psychology and and

language um Linguistics so I studied the

psychology of language particularly with

a focus on people who speak two or more

languages and during the course of my

research over the past uh 25 years um it

it became clear that actually the

majority of the world's population does

speak to more languages it's very common

in in countries all over the world for

children to grow up with two languages

from early childhood and then acquire

additional languages later in life and

there are some countries where it's not

just bilingualism it's trilingualism

multilingualism there are countries in

which a 100% of the population speaks

multiple languages the reason this is

often surprising to us is because when

we look at research when we look at

science um when we go to a library or

the bookstore the majority of work is

done on people who only speak one

language um so it leaves out this huge

segment of the population who has

studied more than one than one language

and uh who speaks more than one language

um it really gives us a incomplete and

inaccurate understanding of the human

mind the analogy uh to make there is if

we think of the field of medicine that

historically if we look at hundreds of

years ago up until not that long ago

recently really

um most research was being done on just

men and now we know that many conditions

for example heart disease manifest

differently in women than in men um or

if we look at just uh which is was also

the case a lot of research was done uh

at least in Europe and and North America

on white populations and now we know

that some conditions like diabetes

manifest

differently in the populations

indigenous to North and South America so

in the same way if we just study the

mind of monolingual people the brains of

monolingual people speakers who just

speak one language we get an inaccurate

understanding of the human language

capacity and cognitive potential more

generally um in Japan it seems like the

Young Generation is studying more than

one language now in school uh it's

mandatory from an early age so we see

this change in demographic a lot of

people in Japan and in the United States

as well the proportion of bilinguals and

multilinguals is increasing interesting

so uh Dr Maran you your s uh grew up in

uh mova so English is not your native

language that's right so I I grew up in

a I was born in a Romanian family but uh

the part of the of the world that I was

born uh and at the time was a Soviet

Republic so um I grew up in Soviet Union

Russian was the official language I

spoke Romanian at home Russian and

public uh as a teenager I moved to the

United States so uh big began to speak

English primarily and then studied other

languages in college like French and

Spanish and and ended up doing research

with speakers of lots of different

languages how did learning English

change your life or your mindset that's

an interesting question I think each

language brings with it um a somewhat

different way of thinking and it's very

hard to separate the influence of

language and the influence of culture so

um it's hard to

know whether it's culture where it's

language but really in my experience and

also in evidence from our research the

way people speak the way people remember

uh uh their lives and my own life um

tends to change when I speak one

language versus another um so sometimes

when I switch to Romanian very different

things come to mind childhood memories

become more accessible for example when

I use English I tend to um think in a

more professional way in a more logical

and reasonable way U sort of more use

more reason than emotion it's hard to

know if it's English or native language

versus second language so there is

evidence that um when people use a

second language they tend to make more

uh utilitarian decisions more rational

decisions and when they use their native

language they tend to make more um

deontological decisions so decisions

that are driven by sort of moral uh what

is right and what is wrong um and

emotion so I do think that when I switch

languages um different aspects of myself

come forward as well interesting um you

mentioned about the experiment where

there's a truck or train coming and

there's five workmen and there's a

person next to you on the bridge and if

you push the person and the person fell

off the bridge it will stop the train so

the five lives will be saved um this is

a typical dilemma question but if you

ask this question in your native

language or suppose English the outcomes

will be different that's right so and

this is just one example of situations

where we can make different decisions in

highly stressful situations and you know

it's a pretty stressful situation to

have to decide if um if you want to

sacrifice the life of one person to save

the life of five people and you explain

the dilemma I can uh go into it a little

bit more there are various versions of

this um experiment that that's used to

study lots of things like ethics and

morality um so in this particular

experiment uh the scenario is that there

is a a trolley coming at a very fast

speed and there are five workers working

on the tracks you are standing on a foot

bridge above the tracks next to a big

person with a backpack and this troll is

coming so fast it's about to run over

these five people and kill them so the

questions that is being asked in this

experim is is it permissible to

sacrifice the life of one person to save

the lives of five people how would you

answer that what would you

say um since I'm speaking English maybe

but I think it'll be more I don't want

to use this word but maybe um better to

push the person to save five lives I

know this is a difficult decision but if

I have to make a decision maybe I'll

think about that yeah you're right it is

a very difficult decision and it's

interesting to hear you kind of think

through it and talk through it uh which

is what people usually do and uh what

oftentimes participants would say is or

even people you talk to say is you know

yes uh it makes more sense to save five

people by sacrificing one but I wouldn't

push this person off the bridge you

can't but I wouldn't but then if you if

you change things like if you ask well

okay you don't have to push the person

of the bridge you press a button instead

uh people are more likely to say yes or

you know it it depends we're saying five

people what if it's 50 or 500 or 5,000

so you can really manipulate and change

the different parameters on this um

decision but in the in this initial one

whether it's five people and you have to

push someone if you ask people in their

native language they mother tongue about

20 20% of the time they will say yes I

would push a person to say five but when

you ask them in the second language

about 33% of uh of the bilingual

participants would say that yes it is

permissible or I would push this person

to save the life of five people so this

difference

133% is really quite big if the only

thing that changes is you switch the

language same person same decision-

making and then you change the language

and the decision the outcome differs

which really does tell us that sometimes

when you have to make difficult

decisions it can be a good idea to try

to make those decisions or ask yourself

those questions in more than one

language if you speak more than one

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language

so this is a strategy uh people can use

when they make major decisions I know

you said a lot of your audience are in

business so in business it works if you

have to make a negotiation decision or

other business decision switching

languages and seeing if you come to the

same realization can be very helpful but

it actually also works in personal

decisions and writers often write about

it I've had many students say so I had

for example a Korean student in my class

last spring telling me how um he was

trying to decide whether he should marry

his Korean girlfriend and saying that

whenever he was making this decision in

Korean he always would come to the

decision that yes he should but when he

would switch to English and make this

decision in English he would think no he

shouldn't so this is an example that he

discussed in class he brought up um uh

publicly in class and and it's not the

only case I think any of our listeners

and you yourself and I often now when

I'm faced with a decision that I'm

having a hard time making I think about

it

from different perspectives different

angles which is what another language

gives you it's really quite interesting

because there's a lot of research that

shows it in business settings when you

have diversity multiple people you

brainstorm you can come up with better

Solutions and better decisions and

here's one situation where when you

don't have access to multiple people um

you can bring these different

perspectives yourself within one

individual perhaps by approaching a

language a question from different

language uh different languages and

different angles yeah I think that's

true because when I speak a different

language it seems that a different me

installed inside and I become another

person so that's very relevant yes

so well it's not surprising you our

identity is shaped by language and um by

the memories that come to mind at any

given point in time so the relationships

we've had with different people all of

those have filtered through

language um so before we going to the

second part of the session um I want to

ask about uh bilinguals because in Japan

since uh we are a very homogeneous

country um we're beginning to become

bilingual but a lot of majority of

people only speak Japanese and we have

been trying like there's tons of books

about how you can learn English and

people think that there's you need some

special talent to be good at English do

you think that uh there are people who

are good at learning a language or as

human beings we're used to learning

multiple

languages yes and yes so both of those

things are true uh in various ways so

yes it's true that some people are more

talented uh and have this gift languages

just like some people are B at music or

at sports or at math we have and I talk

about this in the book we have different

kinds of uh intelligences or different

kind of gifts so yes some people um are

better at learning languages but that

doesn't explain geographical

bilingualism and multilingualism there

are countries where everyone is

bilingual and multilingual if you look

at the Quebec area of Canada the

majority of people there are bilingual

because French and and English are

official languages there and it's not

because everyone in Quebec is

genetically more gifted towards language

learning than if you drive you know a

couple hundred 100 miles south to the

United States where everyone is

monolingual or it's a one official

language so some people are better at

language learning but everyone can learn

more than one language um to different

degrees of proficiency and fluency

um you can learn another language at any

age and you can begin to re benefit

benefits from learning another language

at any age and in fact in the book I go

um into I discuss language as more than

just natural languages that we speak and

and consider multiple forms of

communication multiple codes like music

math anything that allows us to transmit

information across time and space

because this is what language does I

would take an idea I encode it in a

linguistic code and then I transmit it

over time and space in this case through

symbol symbolic system through words for

you to decode and there are different

kinds of symbolic

systems as our brains learn new and more

symbolic systems they change and our

cognitive abilities our um lots of

different executive functions um higher

order cognition changes as a result of

having multiple symbolic systems at our

disposal great uh so let's move on to

the second part of the session um we

kind of touched upon about uh learning

different language affects your decision

but my question is about the reality of

the world so the reality of the world is

shaped by different languages could you

give us some examples how different

languages uh can change how we see or

shape our world sure I think sometimes

people think that we live in this

objective reality yes that we see what

we hear is just this objective thing

that everyone sees and hears but that's

not the case the reality that each of

our brains perceives is very subjective

the reality that I perceive is very

different from the reality that you

perceive from the reality that our

listeners perceive and and everyone's

reality is really shaped by their

previous experiences by uh their

cognitive abilities by their

sensory uh experiences and abilities and

the variables that shape our perception

of reality are really multiple with

language being one of these variables

and it's really quite a powerful um

variable that shapes reality because we

often

use language um to filter our sensory

system we give labels uh to things to

help us reason and and comprehend and

understand the world and so one example

I could give for example is the rainbow

when you look at the rainbow or when

children draw the rainbow they tend to

use the number of uh color

that their language or their culture uh

describes the rainbows having but

interestingly those numbers those

numbers of languages vary of colors vary

across languages and more interestingly

the rainbow itself is not really eight

colors or seven colors or six colors

however many colors you choose it's an

infinite number of colors so all the

colors in this color spectrum are

available in the rainbow it just changes

by one pixel at a time but the language

that we have imposes this structure on

how we think about the rainbow and it's

not just the rainbow um if you talk to

uh for example a chef or wine

connoisseur or someone who is a perfume

expert the words that they use to

describe the food or the smells or the

wine um are much more Rich than a person

who doesn't drink wine and cannot talk

about the finish and the you know it's

it's it it changes how we not only

describe what we perceive but also what

we later remember the details of our

experiences so these are even then

speakers who only speak one language so

with with each new language you sort of

learn new ways of thinking about reality

another example that's uh sometimes easy

for people to understand is is gender

grammatical gender so many languages

like English do not have grammatical

gender all inanimate objects are

referred to as it like a pen a pencil a

desk but uh there are some languages

where inanimate objects are given uh a

grammatical gender it's either masculine

or feminine or it could still be an it

or they could be multiple genders but

interestingly if you are a person who

speaks a language that has grammatical

gender you think about inanimate objects

a little bit differently using this the

stereotypes and biases that are

associated with grammatical gender so

for example in experiments in which uh

people spoke languages that had

grammatical gender if you compared how

someone would describe a key and and key

and um if you look at Spanish speakers

and German speakers in one of these

languages it's masculine in the other

one it's feminine if it's masculine

people describe it as metal uh you know

useful H jagged

and and serrated and and these kind of

adjectives but then if it's feminine

people would describe it as Tiny golden

intricate or a if you just switch things

around and and take something like a

bridge the same item is different

grammatical genders in this two

languages if it's masculine people would

describe it as big uh you know strong

metal again different adjectives

adjectives as opposed to if it's

feminine describing it as elegant

slender pretty

beautiful so the way we even describe

things around

us is shaped by the language we have and

by different features and

characteristics of language do you think

that uh people who can only speak one

language tend to be uh very

narrow-minded we don't want to

generalize because of course there are

people who speak two or more languages

and are narrow-minded and then there are

people who are monolingual and are

open-minded but there is a relationship

between open-mindedness and openness to

new experiences and language learning um

and and it it actually even being

exposed even just dating or having

friends or being in relationships with

people who speak multiple languages

changes how you perform on a number of

creativity tasks and uh and cognitive

flexibility tasks so just being exposed

to other languages other cult C other

ways of thinking broadens the mind and

and um it's definitely a way to to

optimize one's thinking

process um I asked this question because

when I look at social media uh before

you know Twitter and the mess um I used

to think that uh social media may change

your world in a better way because if

you exposed to different ideas different

people people will brought in their

views but what I'm seeing right now at X

is different you people are hating each

other so I'm curious what you think

about that or any thoughts on that it's

a it's an interesting observation and I

agree with you there is a lot of

potential there with uh crosscultural

communication being able to reach and

speak to people from different walks of

life different languages different

cultures different countries and that's

all there that potential is there

unfortunately the algorithms tend to

create this Echo Chambers where you end

up just

increasingly being around more people

and certain ideas become Amplified and

um instead of broadening your

perspectives you are sometimes LED down

a path that on the contrary tends to

really perpetuate biases um so it's

really important that as um technology

advances and and and AI uh continues to

develop people become really or

developers become really mindful of um

not perpetuating this biases making sure

that a variety of voices are being

represented um there are a lot of

safeguards that need to be put in place

like anything else there is a lot of

potential uh uh and it's now a matter of

figuring out how

to how to I don't want to say regulate

because regulation often brings in a lot

of negative biases but if we think you

know when press first came uh came

around or even cars um it took a while

to figure out that seat belts are good

thing for example and that we need road

signs and we need some guidelines for

how to move around the roads uh so we'll

eventually need to figure out how to

move around the the the highway on the

internet to make sure that um

that the best outcomes uh and in

addition you mentioned um there might be

uh possibilities risk decreasing the

risk of Alzheimer it turns out that

speaking to more languages is one of the

side variables and you lived your life

in different languages um you have

different you

can sometimes resort to other uh links

um that your brain has made in this uh

you it'll lose it you know neural

firings approach

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so