“The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis says that if you immerse yourself in another language, you can rewire your brain.”
— Jeremy Renner’s character in Arrival
Last week, I discussed the strong and weak versions of the Whorf Hypothesis. The former claims that one’s native language determines our worldview, to the point where we’re unable to think thoughts not embraced by our language. The latter takes the more sober view that one’s language influences, but doesn’t limit, our thoughts and perceptions.
I decided to revisit the Whorf Hypothesis after re-watching the 2016 movie Arrival, in which linguist Louise Banks, played by Amy Adams, is assigned the job of deciphering the language used by aliens who have arrived in 12 spaceships now scattered around the world. Early on, we’re primed to expect linguistic fireworks when “Sapir-Whorf” is invoked, per the above quote. (Benjamin Whorf would be turning in his grave — he never said anything about rewiring.) Sure enough, as Louise begins to understand what the aliens are saying with their logograms (symbols representing words), she starts to experience flash-forward visions of her unborn daughter. The aliens’ circular glyphs depict a time-independent language, so Louise’s knowledge of it has indeed rewired her brain, and she is no longer stuck in the present.
Shades of 1984! Rewiring the brain via language is the name of the game in George Orwell’s dystopian novel, published in 1948. In the year 1984, The Party rules everything. To solidify their control, they re-educate the population by forcing everyone to adopt “Newspeak,” with the goal of making any “intellectual” thoughts literally unthinkable. (Playing devil’s advocate, this makes as much sense as claiming that, since English doesn’t have a single word for German Schadenfreude, English speakers are unable to appreciate the pleasure of hearing about someone else’s misfortune.)
For instance, in Newspeak, English words function both as nouns and as verbs: the word “think” eliminates the word “thought.” Once the brain is rewired to never use “thought,” even the idea of thought is absent, and without thoughts, a Newspeak user lacks the ability to think critically. Orwell later commented that Newspeak was the logical extension of what authoritarian regimes were already doing. For instance, in adopting compound words like Nazi, Gestapo, Politburo, Agitprop, despots were subtly altering and diluting the full meaning. He wrote, “Comintern is a word that can be uttered almost without taking thought, whereas Communist International is a phrase over which one is obliged to linger at least momentarily.” (I’ve seen the claim that Donald Trump’s dubbing of accurate, factual and reliable news reporting as “fake news” is a modern version of Newspeak.)
Back to Benjamin Whorf, who, I believe, was a sloppy researcher. Much of the evidence he presented came from anecdotal examples, and his arguments are rife with speculation. But he meant well! In the 1930s, policy makers were discouraging the use of Native languages in the United States, which they thought primitive and therefore barriers to the intellectual growth of Indigenous children. In contrast, Whorf celebrated what he saw as “exotic” worlds of Native American thought. No doubt he was brilliant, and also kind. His religion was Theosophy, which promotes the brotherhood of humankind, viewing the world as an interconnected whole.
Right or wrong, Whorf’s popularizing of linguistic relativity — the effect our native language has on our thoughts and perceptions — has motivated researchers, especially in the fields of psycholinguistics and linguistic anthropology, for more than eight decades. Every year sees new papers and books, fresh arguments and imaginative proposals. I’m sure Benjamin Whorf, who died young at 44, would have been happy to see the many ideas and musings that he inspired. His influence is far from over.
Barry Evans (he/him barryevans9@yahoo.com) notes that one of the first proponents of the “language creates one’s worldview” idea was Wilhelm von Humboldt, whose kid brother Alexander lent his name to our county.
This article appears in ‘The Next Wave’.