Cognitive Diversity
There's a controversial theory in linguistic circles, it's called the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis. Well actually, there are a number of controversial theories in linguistic circles, but let's stick with Sapir-Whorf for the moment.
It basically says that there is a symbiotic feedback loop between the way you conceptualize a subject and the way you communicate about it. Examples of the hypothesis point to cultures who don't have words for certain colours and therefore seem incapable of perceiving those colours, or cultures who don't seem to express certain emotions well because they don't have manageable terminology yo describe what they are feeling.
Hard interpretations state that those without the words are incapable of processing thoughts about the concepts embodied in those words... softer interpretations state that those without the words simply have a harder time making the connections... the relationships aren't as direct or as strong. A corollary to this is the belief that those who speak the same language think the same way, accents reveal slight changes in thought, dialects reveal more noticeable changes... it might then also be possible to say that pidgins and Creole fuse languages together as their speakers fuse different cultural patterns of thought. There's evidence for and against the hypothesis, and it might all be a case of psuedo-science and academic mumbo-jumbo, but it provides another hook for game ideas.
There were hundreds of Indigenous languages and dialects spread across Australia before the British Colonial forces took control. Many of these languages were wiped out in xenophobia and ethnocentrism. With the loss of these languages and their associated cultures, certain thought patterns and relationships were shattered. Methods of harnessing the land were lost along with the words describing them, those methods needing to be learnt anew by farmers accustomed to Western paradigms. Are they being repeated quick enough, or is ecological catastrophe now inevitable?
Everything is interconnected.
When I see stories about the preservation of ancient languages, it gives me a little hope that some knowledge of the past won't need to be repeated. And maybe that the knowledge embedded in the linguistic patterns and relationships can be spread to a new generation.
How much this all applies to reality is a matter of debate, but it does help provide a stronger framework for where I'm heading with this game.
It basically says that there is a symbiotic feedback loop between the way you conceptualize a subject and the way you communicate about it. Examples of the hypothesis point to cultures who don't have words for certain colours and therefore seem incapable of perceiving those colours, or cultures who don't seem to express certain emotions well because they don't have manageable terminology yo describe what they are feeling.
Hard interpretations state that those without the words are incapable of processing thoughts about the concepts embodied in those words... softer interpretations state that those without the words simply have a harder time making the connections... the relationships aren't as direct or as strong. A corollary to this is the belief that those who speak the same language think the same way, accents reveal slight changes in thought, dialects reveal more noticeable changes... it might then also be possible to say that pidgins and Creole fuse languages together as their speakers fuse different cultural patterns of thought. There's evidence for and against the hypothesis, and it might all be a case of psuedo-science and academic mumbo-jumbo, but it provides another hook for game ideas.
There were hundreds of Indigenous languages and dialects spread across Australia before the British Colonial forces took control. Many of these languages were wiped out in xenophobia and ethnocentrism. With the loss of these languages and their associated cultures, certain thought patterns and relationships were shattered. Methods of harnessing the land were lost along with the words describing them, those methods needing to be learnt anew by farmers accustomed to Western paradigms. Are they being repeated quick enough, or is ecological catastrophe now inevitable?
Everything is interconnected.
When I see stories about the preservation of ancient languages, it gives me a little hope that some knowledge of the past won't need to be repeated. And maybe that the knowledge embedded in the linguistic patterns and relationships can be spread to a new generation.
How much this all applies to reality is a matter of debate, but it does help provide a stronger framework for where I'm heading with this game.
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