Paper 4 Question 2

Some of Boroditsky’s research could be interpreted to support the idea that people may think differently depending upon their mother tongue. I believe this to be the main issue brought up in the text. This could be because of how things are worded. Or this could be because of the way that opinions, ideas, and beliefs are conveyed in the language. 

For example, in languages such as Japanese and Spanish, accidents are not attributed to the person who, in English, would be blamed for the accident. In the text, Boroditsky touched on this point. She said, “If I knock this cup off the table, even accidentally, you would likely say ‘She broke the cup.’ But if the act were an accident, the speaker would essentially say ‘The cup broke itself’.” 

For those whom this is their first language, they would learn at a young age that if accidents happen, nobody is to blame since their language has no expression for fault. I remember my parents having to teach me and my younger sister at very young ages to not place blame on people for simple accidents. This braking of habit could have been avoided if English did not naturally ascribe blame to accidents. 

Another example of this is how, in Indonesian, verbs don't change to express time. This could be an example of how the perception of time and how actions impact the present and future are perceived differently among different cultures. 

The majority of Indonesians identify as Muslim and the country is often considered to be a ‘Muslim Nation’. The Muslim religion (Islam) is based on the idea that when you die, Allah (Muslim God) judges you upon your choices and deeds. It’s a complicated process during judgment day (Yawm ad-Din) wherein Allah will hand you your ‘book of deeds’ and you must read it aloud while naked (so that you can’t hide anything) in front of the world and he will then choose if you are allowed to go to Jannah (Muslim Heaven) or if you are condemned to Jahnnam (Muslim Hell). It’s a bit more complicated than that but I think you get the gist.

Since Islam treats all actions (past and present) as relevant and important, it could be plausible to say that the language has been influenced by that same principle. Since religion is mostly based on beliefs and beliefs are influenced by how you think it could be inferred that this language could influence thought and therefore make Islam seem more believable than most other religions.