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The use of language to illuminate the human nature
The use of language to illuminate the human nature Brian Merchรกn L6 - 005 Yachay Tech 2 October, 2016
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The use of language to illuminate the human nature When I was a child, D ³VKRFN´ FKDQJH P\ OLIH , ZDV SOD\LQJ ZLWK DQ HOHFWURQLF WDEOH WKDW my brother was creating for the high school. I was with a friend and we start to fight for take the control of this table and suddenly we turned off the table and after that we touched the loose wires and that gave us a shock. Obviously that activated something in my mind because immediately a feeling of curiosity invaded me. I had a need to know how it works. Since then I liked science. However there was always subjects that stressed me because I did not find something interesting in them. In this dark zone of my likes were the subjects of linguistics and biology. It was not until this semester that I started to read more about this topics and I wanted to focus on linguistics. Because the only contact that I have with language in my entire life was in the high school, we spend hours of class searching for verbs, subjects and predicates. After that everything about language was boring for me. That change when I started to study in a science XQLYHUVLW\ EHFDXVH D ORW RI WRSLFV DSSHDU KHUH 6R EHWZHHQ 0HQGHOœV ODZV 1HZWRQœV ODZV a lot of equations, appears Steven Pinker saying that language reflects the human nature, reveals our concept of reality. Lera Boroditsky showing that the language of a culture could change the perception of time, even also the way that they live. That shocks me again. But now I will learn about language because we need to keep informed about language and its studies on human cognition for get more information about how we are affected and how we affect the environment in which we live. The psychologist Steven Pinker, in his video What our language habits reveal , said that the relations that we have with each other are related with our way of seeing the world and he realized that by using language it is easy to know more about our concept of reality, giving way to a better understanding of human nature. He explains that what we say, our phrases, are not the
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consequence of simple repetitions. Instead they come from the way that we understand all the phrases that came before (Pinker, 2016). As we know language is complicated, focusing just on verbs, depending on the language verbs works in different ways. /HWÂśV VXSSRVH WKDW HYHU\RQH wants to share the same ideas, those ideas form the concept of reality that each person has. Then as there is no way to be experts and do not make grammatical errors. Everyone use their own words to do it, so depending on this, the concept of the world will change for each one. Likewise to corroborate this we can see the studies that were presented by Lera Boroditsky, in her article How does our language shape the way we think. In which explains that in an aboriginal community of Australia, the Kuuk Thaayorre, they use the directions north, VRXWK ZHVW HDVW RU ZHVW WR H[SUHVV )RU H[DPSOH WKH\ FRXOG VD\ Âł<RX KDYH DQ LQVHFW LQ \RXU southeast foot. Thereby the Kuuk Thaayorre are always oriented because if not, they cannot even answer the greeting. This changes the way that they perceived the time being that in other experiment they tell to the Kuuk Thaayorre and asked them to order photos from the oldest to the most current. Depending on where they were standing, they order the photos differently. If they were in the east they put the photos toward their body, if they were in the south they put the photos from left to right. (Boroditsky, 2009). Now our language between countries changes a lot, so that means that aspects like intentions, judgment, attention and a lot more could change through cultures as well as time perception with Kuuk Thaayorre. That means that the language has a lot more to discover in the area of human cognition. Living in a society in which knowledge is very valued, language are being studied and perhaps in the future we could use the language as now we use the biology to understand what is wrong with our body, also we could use the language to understand what is wrong to our minds.
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On the other hand, Pinker said that as well as language serves to conceptualize reality it also serves to also it serves to negotiate the relationship with others like a boss, a family member or a date (Pinker, 2016). As language is a social interaction, it carries a specific content and the interpretation of this content depends on the kind of relationship that you have with the other SHUVRQ ,PDJLQH WKDW \RX DUH LQ D FODVVURRP DQG D FRPSOHWHO\ VWUDQJHU VD\V \RX ³,I \RX FRXOG FORVH WKH GRRU WKDW ZRXOG EH JUHDW´ WKDW connection that you make in that moment reflects IULHQGOLQHVV ,QVWHDG LI WKH VWUDQJHU VDLG ³&ORVH WKH GDPQ GRRU´ WKDW UHIOHFWV DQJHU DQG GRPLQDQFH ,I ZH QRWLFHG WKLV ³UHODWLYLW\´ RI WKH ODQJXDJH LQ ZKLFK WKH LQWHUSUHWDWLRQ GHSHQGV RQ how our relationship is with another or how we change the words to tell something; people like politicians, sellers or television on its commercial could use this to persuade people and achieve the goal of their speech with everyone. In conclusion, language is a powerful tool. It can help us to define our concept of reality, showing us that there are a lot of facts that could help us if we want to persuade people for something, or just could show us what what the behavior of people would be in a specific environment just by studying their language. Many times people are not aware about a lot of topics and language could be one of them. As we have seen language has a lot of things to discover and it could serve as a tool in the future for the study of mental health, so it would be necessary for each person to keep informed about this to stay healthy.
The use of language to illuminate the human nature References Boroditsky, L. (2009). Edge. [online] Edge.com. Available at: https://www.edge.org/conversation/lera_boroditsky-how-does-our-language-shape-the-way-wethink
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A Problem of Period
A Problem of Period Brian Merchan, Carla Borja, Henry Romero, German Sánchez L6 - 005 Yachay Tech November, 2016
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A Problem of Period
December 23rd of 1931 the retrospective of Diego Rivera is inaugurated in the Museum of Modern Art. It brings together 149 pieces and five portable Mexicanthemed murals among them, El Levantamiento. It is made of fresh on reinforced concrete in a galvanized steel structure (188 x 239 cm). In the mural we can observe a woman with her baby loaded to the hip and a worker defending of the attack of a uniformed soldier. Behind, there is a mutinous crowd clashing with other soldiers who subject the demonstrators. The place is uncertain, although the tone of the skin of the characters implies that the scene is developed in Mexico or in another country of Latin America. The confrontation represented here is a powerful universal symbol of the class struggle.
About the author, Diego Rivera was born on December 8, 1886, in Guanajuato, Mexico. (Bio, 2014) His passion for art emerged early on. He start as a Cubist painter in Europe (NGA, 2002), but the changes on the world in that period of time would change the subject and style of his art. Diego Rivera was inspired by the political ideals of the Mexican Revolution and also the revolution of Russia, Rivera managed to make art that mirror the lives of the workers and native peoples of Mexico. He went to a trip to Italy and he developed an interest in making murals. He fined inspiration in the Renaissance frescos there. When he returned to Mexico, Rivera starts to express his artistic ideas
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about the situation of Mexico. He received funding from the government to create a series of murals about the country's people and its history on the walls of public buildings (Bio, 2014).
Known for numerous casual romantic or sexual relationship with women, Rivera married fellow artist Frida Kahlo in 1929 but they decided to divorce in 1939 (Bio, 2014).While they always had a stormy relationship, In the late 1930s, Rivera went through a slow period, in terms of work. He had no major mural commissions around this time so he devoted himself to painting other works. Finally he died of heart failure on November 24, 1957, in Mexico City, Mexico. (Bio, 2014)
Now, we have to consider the historical context to understand better the piece of art. During nineteens Mexico was experiencing a great armed conflict. According the history the problem began from 1876 when the Oaxacan general Porfirio Díaz took the power of the country but in the form of dictatorship. The problem remained for 34 years, in which, to discontent grows in the people. The crisis in the United States made the people leave this country and both, Americans and Latinos, showed dissatisfaction (Moma, 2016).
Although, Mexico had experienced economic growth and social stability. These achievements had high economic and social costs, which, regrettably, paid the less socially stable strata and those who opposed the Diaz Regime. During the first decade of the twentieth century, various crisis erupted (Gonzales, 2016). There is currently no agreement on when these revolutionary problems ended, but there are those who claim that the process lasted until the 1940s. After all the corruption and the dismissal
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of other leaders that did not change the situation, Mexico was destabilized, there were a lot of chaos. Even when there were not so much strikes in the Mexico streets, this crisis affects men, women, and children. Even when the lowest social stratum was the most affected, the feeling of discontent was big in the Mexican people.
5HWXUQLQJ WR WKH ZRUN ³(O /HYDQWDPLHQWR´ KDV DV SURWDJRQLVW D ZRPDQ ZKR WULHV WR reassure the conflict between soldiers and civilian workers. Also, it is similar to the work known as the Intervention of the Sabine Women of Jacques-Louis David, who worked after the French Revolution. Additionally, it was published in 1799 in the Museum of Louvre. However, the work of Jacques reflects classic mythology, where women were most at risk in confronting conflicts in the hope of stopping it. In contrast, in Rivera's work, it reflects a modern woman who is willing to fight for her family and herself (Schnapper A. & Serullaz A., 1992).
The couple painted as protagonists have modern clothes compared to the other people that are around them. The man wears overalls and a cap characteristic of the workers. On the other hand, the woman is represented in the fashion of the twenties and thirties using short hair, earrings, knee-length dress and high-heeled shoes. It is for this reason that for some artists of the left, it seemed to them pleasant the representation of Marxism in this work.
The red flags and the closed fist that rise above the crowd are universal symbols of the resistance of the workers. The artist worked actively in the Communist Party of Mexico, so this had a great influence in the inspiration of his works. After his trip to the USSR during six months, he used more and more elements such as red stars, urban
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factories, sickle and hammer, with which he seeks to represent the class revolution on DQ LQWHUQDWLRQDO VFDOH 7KLV PXUDO DOVR UHFDOOV WKH PLOLWDQF\ RI ³VROGDGHUDV´ ZRPHQ ZKR fought in the Mexican Revolution and who became icons thanks to the popular photographs of the time (mediaproject , 2011).
In conclusion, most of the thematic of the works of Diego Rivera are influenced by the interest of the artist in Marxist and communist politics and above all by general discontent of the time. In the work El Levanta m iento, Rivera represents the class struggle and tries to illustrate a part of Mexican history. Also, he highlights the role of women during the Mexican Revolution.
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References Bio. (2014). Diego Rivera Biography [online] Retrieved from at: http://biography.jrank.org/pages/3436/Rivera-Diego-1886-1957-Artist-BeganDrawing-Toddler.html [Accessed 14 Nov. 2016] Gonzales, A. (2016). Revolución Mexicana . [online] Historiacultural.com. Available at: http://www.historiacultural.com/2010/12/revolucion-mexicana.html [Accessed 14 Nov. 2016]. mediaproject . (2011). Diego Rivera: Murals for The Museum of Modern Art. Obtenido de 1F mediaproject: Dynamic International ART Network in English: http://www.1fmediaproject.net/2011/11/13/diego-rivera-murals-for-the-museum-ofmodern-art-reunites-for-the-first-time-murals-the-artist-made-for-his-1931-momaexhibition/ Museum of Modern Art (2016). El levantam iento | Diego Rivera: Murales para El
Museo de Arte Moderno. [online] Available at: https://www.moma.org/interactives/exhibitions/2011/rivera/es/content/mural/uprisin g/detail.php [Accessed 14 Nov. 2016]. Nga.gov. (2002) The Cubist Paintings of Diego Rivera Memory, Politics, Place [online] Available at: http://www.nga.gov/content/ngaweb/features/slideshows/diegorivera.html Schnapper A., Serullaz A. (1992). Jacques-Louis David 1748-1825. Réunion des Musées Nationaux (RMN) (15 février 1992) http://biography.jrank.org/pages/3436/Rivera-Diego-1886-1957-Artist-BeganDrawing-Toddler.html [Accessed 14 Nov. 2016]
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Language and Culture in Daily Life
Language and Culture in Daily Life Brian David Merchán Muñoz L6-005 Yachay Tech November 22, 2016
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In the last decade a lot of hypothesis and theories have been presented by a lot of people who research social sciences. With the passing of the years we have discovered that our minds are shaped by your culture and language. However the lack of information related to this topic was the guilty of the differences of ethics between people from one culture to other. As we now culture was there since childhood. Depending on the place this is different for every people. For all the experiences we live during our live related to a specific place, to a specific environment, to a specific moment; we have different kind RI ³HWKLFV´ RU morality. For example; religious people in occident have their god and from this they have different moral rules. In the same way oriental people have gods too, but they have different meanings of respect, love, etc. That is even when both have gods to guide their rules, the environment developed around both is different. Therefore morals between cultures are different. On the other hand, some people can find differences between cultures because of the language they use. For example one hypothesis said that American people are rude because their language works around consonants. Instead Hawaiian people are soft and lazy because their language works around vowels. That hypothesis was wrong because according linguistics Hawaiian language requires more effort because they use a lot of vowels (Pinker, 2002). Other research had found that our first language, the language related to our childhood and culture, makes us more moralistic than other language that we learn later (Sedivy, 2016) That shows that there is a lot of work to do about language LQ LWV UHODWLRQ ZLWK WKH PRUDO KRZHYHU QRZDGD\V ZH FDQœW VD\ WKDW WKHUH LV QR UHODWion
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with our decisions. We know that it changes the human mind, the problem is that their limits unknown. The last years a lot of psychologist had made hypothesis about the human mind that are cause of controversy. Even the problems about homosexualism and religion were cause of debate between people, thanks by the new way of seeing the human nature. Being in a university of specific sciences has allowed me to discover that an equilibrium between specific and social sciences in the education of the people will represent a big step to humanity. In conclusion culture is the thing that changes ethics and moral more than ODQJXDJH EXW WKLV QRW PHDQ WKH ODQJXDJH GRHVQ¶W KDYH DQ HIIHFW RQ WKLV +RZHYHU LW LV necessary for the people to know more about them because ethics and morality should be and universal truth. No matter what the color of your skin, where you come from or your culture. Even when language and culture change us. We must learn to live in society, knowing that there are some facts that change our context, but deep in our minds our moral, our essence, are the same. For that education will be our best weapon.
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References Pinker, S. (2002). The blank slate. 1st ed. New York: Viking. Sedivy, J. (2016). How Morality Changes in a Foreign Language. [online] Scientific American. Retrieved from: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-‐morality-‐changes-‐in-‐a-‐ foreign-‐language/ [Accessed 11 Jan. 2017].
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Language a tool to have a better society
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Language: A tool to have a better society Brian David MerchĂĄn MuĂąoz L6-005 Yachay Tech December 6, 2016
2 Language a tool to have a better society
Abstract For many years, knowledge has allowed the humanity evolve. Language was a key tool in this process. Making way for the communication allowed a first great step to the humanity thanks to that we form relationships. Now as we live in a globalized world, our progress depends heavily on communication and how we use language. That is why it is necessary to know how language affects our mind, the more we know about ourselves, the better we will understand those around us, this will allow us to establish better relationships. Also, the better we understand how language works, the closer we are to understanding the importance of it and little by little people maybe will admit the idea of having a universal language. Thus, thanks to the knowledge of this tool we can approach to a better society.
3 Language a tool to have a better society
L anguage: A tool to have a better society Until now, science had discovered that there are many factors that modify life. From millions of bacteria living around us or in our body that orientate the function of our systems, to hundreds of genes that regulate our cells, hormones, and our entire organism allowing us the adaption into the earth (Brand, 2012). However, as well as there are many things in our environment that change the biological aspect of our lifes, other things in our environment changed the way we think and consequently the way we live. The knowledge, ideas, traditions and customs all we call culture. Also our language, the tool that we use to communicate between cultures; could affect our decision-making. Learning about how language can change our acts and perception could improve relations into our society leading us to get greater progress. The first thing that language can change the relationship between members of our species. According to Pagel (2016) language was the key in the evolution of humanity. This is shown in one of his examples, this take us to our early evolution. Imagine that there are two people, one is good making arrowheads but very bad making shafts, and another very good making shafts but bad doing arrowheads; (Without language) one day one took a few arrowheads, walks up to the other one and put the arrows in front of him, hoping the other will understand the idea that he wants to exchange the arrowheads for finished arrows. But the other looks at the arrowheads, thinks it was a gift, takes them, smiles and leaves. A fight is unleashed and the first man is knifed with one of his arrowheads. Well, now the scene is repeated but they have language. He leaves his arrowheads and says: "I like to exchange these arrowheads for finished arrows." We divide 50 and 50. "The other one says," Well, it seems fair to me. Let us do it." As we can see from language, our species began to share and cooperate. Without language we could not reach
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agreement, nor close a deal, nor coordinate our activities with others of our species. Thus language has allowed us a great progress; it would be irresponsible not to pay attention to it. For example according to Pagel the European Union employs a permanent staff of about 2,500 translators, imagine how much money they spent on wages. Therefore language gives way to communication, this in turn played a key role in evolution. That is why if we dig deeper into the functioning of language and understand its importance, this could approach more and more to a single form of communication, to a single language. Eventually improve society. In the same way, in an investigation made by Janet Geipel and his team, it was found that using descriptions of acts that appeared to harm not one, but that many people find morally reprehensible. For example, stories in which siblings enjoyed entirely consensual and safe sex, or someone cooked and ate his dog after it had been killed by a car. Those who read this kind of stories, in a foreign language, judged these actions to be less wrong than those who read them in their native tongue (Sedivy, 2016). Putting it in a more complicated context, imagine that a team of scientists work with nuclear energy, this could save many resources of the planet but also cause a huge disaster. Then we enter into a debate about what the team should do, but all are from different countries and speak different languages. So imagine the dispute when making a decision. Although it is an unlikely example we see again how it can affect our relationship as a society. Language is applied to every aspect of our life and in an increasingly globalized world knowing how to use language correctly is fundamental. But, when we speak of language and its way of affecting our lives, we enter into a field of deep debate, since it is a fact that language affects our morals; the problem is that ZH GRQ¶W know to what extent. The Danish philologist Otto Jespersen said "As is the language, so is the nation".
5 Language a tool to have a better society
Thus it explain that the Americans are certainly rude people because its language works consonants and has little infantile or feminine. Hawaiians, on the other hand, because they have a more harmonious language, full of vowels, are less hardworking and less vigorous people (Pinker, 2012). Today it is known that this is not true. According to Steven Pinker, languages based on more vowels than consonants require longer words to convey the same amount of information (Pinker, 2002). The point is that thanks to the study of language this hypothesis that could have tied the people to a type of inferiority due to its language. Thereby even when it sounds paradox when we find mistakes in the way, the study of language itself will led us to notice our mistakes so later we can fix it . However there are still other facts to consider and other influential factor in people's perception is culture. From the first moment we are born, we introduce ourselves in a specific geographical place, with its own language. We will be children of parents belonging to a certain nation, with their own customs and traditions. All of this is part of our identity and defines part of our way of being, our nature. Not long ago I believed that the era in which we live is very violent, and it seems so. When we see the news, there is always news of genocides, suicides and deaths everywhere. However, according to an investigation made by Steven Pinker, we live in the most peaceful era of all time (Pinker, 2007). This idea is a bit shocking because for a long time when we began to talk about the acts of people, or human nature, people used to relate this to racism, sexism, war, greed, etc. For this many people could say that as language is ingrained to culture, and as culture is the result of the human behavior, culture will pervert language so we should focus on culture not in language. But that is wrong. Once you started learning how things around you can distort or clarify the way you view the world, you will start avoid thing that do not benefit you. Although culture also changes us, without the study of language we would not
6 Language a tool to have a better society
have understood the role of this or the role of culture in our lives. That is why research is done and we attempt to find answers as how things surround us change our lives. Researchers such as Steven Pinker, Mariano Sigman, Uri Hasson, and many others have put their efforts to decipher the human mind and the more are decipher, better will be each person. Finally, there is no doubt that language has been an enormous tool for humanity and although there are other biological and cultural factors that also affect our perception and / or way of living. The manifestation of language was a crucial in our evolution as a species. We have the ability to transpose our ideas, reach agreements, close deals, among others. In addition, knowing that language can change our morals will allow us make better reflections and also make better decisions. Therefore with people informed about the language and its correct use we would take one more step in the way towards a better society.
7 Language a tool to have a better society
References Brand, S. (2012). Microbes dominate the world. In: J. Brockman, ed., This Will Make You Smarter, 1st ed. p.33. Pagel, M. (2011). Mark Palmer: How language transformed humanity. [online] Ted.com. Available at: https://www.ted.com/talks/mark_pagel_how_language_transformed_humanity? [Accessed 4 Dec. 2016]. Pinker, S. (2002). The blank slate. 1st ed. New York: Penguin. Pinker, S. (2016). The surprising decline in violence. [online] Ted.com. Available at: https://www.ted.com/talks/steven_pinker_on_the_myth_of_violence [Accessed 5 Dec. 2016]. Sedivy, J. (2016). How Morality Changes in a Foreign Language. Scientific American. [online] Available at: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-‐morality-‐changes-‐in-‐a-‐foreign-‐language/ [Accessed 3 Dec. 2016].
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