When you think, how do you think? What actually enters your mind? What do your thoughts actually consist of?
Try and analyse it.
Chances are that if you know how to speak a language (I would hope you do if you are actually reading this) your thoughts will actually consist of words. You look at a table and you think “table”. You look at the clear sky and see that it is “blue”. This is much more the case however if you think of things that are not right before you. If you think that chores still need to be done, you will most likely be telling yourself silently in your head “I still need to clean the bathroom”. As we express our thoughts to others in words it is not strange that we would learn to do this to our selves.
This fact really interlinks with the differences between cultures and the languages that they are based on. There are plenty of words in different languages that just simply can not be translated directly. Accordingly it is not suprising that people think differently in different cultures with different languages. Even in the same society a different vocabulary may even be the reason for different ways of thinking e.g. thinking positive thoughts or negative ones.
Generally speaking one may thus say that language influences our mind very deeply. We are locked in to ways of thinking through the language that we speak or that we think in. Especially multicultural people will there for find it easier to be open minded and understand foreign cultures or their languages.
However, even if one is only proficient in only one language one can still manage to open one’s mind, or release the mind from the constraints of having to think in that language. Similarly even if people know many languages and understand their underlying cultures, they may still be locked into different ways of thinking depending on what language they are using.
A simple way to train the mind, both in concentration and in breaking that mould is by settling down and making an effort not to think in words. Try and replace the words that would normally course through your mind with only the images. Don’t think “book” when you think about reading one, just use the image to think about it. When you think you must wipe the table. Don’t sound the words in your head, just picture yourself cleaning the table.
Try and train this regularly. At first it may be very hard to keep focused and not actually use words while you think. With practice however, it will become easier and easier and you may even notice a difference in the way you feel or perceive the world around you.
Try and analyse it.
Chances are that if you know how to speak a language (I would hope you do if you are actually reading this) your thoughts will actually consist of words. You look at a table and you think “table”. You look at the clear sky and see that it is “blue”. This is much more the case however if you think of things that are not right before you. If you think that chores still need to be done, you will most likely be telling yourself silently in your head “I still need to clean the bathroom”. As we express our thoughts to others in words it is not strange that we would learn to do this to our selves.
This fact really interlinks with the differences between cultures and the languages that they are based on. There are plenty of words in different languages that just simply can not be translated directly. Accordingly it is not suprising that people think differently in different cultures with different languages. Even in the same society a different vocabulary may even be the reason for different ways of thinking e.g. thinking positive thoughts or negative ones.
Generally speaking one may thus say that language influences our mind very deeply. We are locked in to ways of thinking through the language that we speak or that we think in. Especially multicultural people will there for find it easier to be open minded and understand foreign cultures or their languages.
However, even if one is only proficient in only one language one can still manage to open one’s mind, or release the mind from the constraints of having to think in that language. Similarly even if people know many languages and understand their underlying cultures, they may still be locked into different ways of thinking depending on what language they are using.
A simple way to train the mind, both in concentration and in breaking that mould is by settling down and making an effort not to think in words. Try and replace the words that would normally course through your mind with only the images. Don’t think “book” when you think about reading one, just use the image to think about it. When you think you must wipe the table. Don’t sound the words in your head, just picture yourself cleaning the table.
Try and train this regularly. At first it may be very hard to keep focused and not actually use words while you think. With practice however, it will become easier and easier and you may even notice a difference in the way you feel or perceive the world around you.
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