I thought I had written a blog about the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis. It must’ve been back in the days before the current Typepad blog.
The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, as I use it, relates to cultural anthropology. It was developed by Sapir and Whorf studying Southwest American Indians particularly the Hopi. The hypothesis suggests that because of the language and culture in which each person is immersed that person sees the world in a way that is similar to everyone else in his language and cultural but very differently from people in every other language and cultural group. Learning a new language while living in another country does not necessarily change one's perspective.
The idea that one's language shapes one's perspective on the world was advanced earlier by Ludwig Wittgenstein as a basic philosophical premise.
I personally subscribe to this thesis.
I have spent 40 years studying Japanese society for a month or two at a time every year.
It is clear to me that Japanese society appears on the surface to be very similar to my American society. But since I looked at details I find that the organizing principles of Japanese society are radically different in perspective. Each Japanese sees the world differently from me and other Americans.
Two examples. The Japanese consider cleanliness to be one of the ultimate social values. They take off their dirty street shoes when they enter a home and wash their dogs feet too; they sweep and wash the entrance area to their home and business daily; they do not let their children stand on the velvet seats on public trains; they bathe in hot water every day for close to an hour, the soaping is done outside the bathing water; they would never think of wearing the same clothes two days in a row; they do not use a handkerchief which we use and reuse, they prefer disposable Kleenex; when they wash their car they wash the underside of it…….. the list goes on and on.
The Japanese believe in meritocracy over family. They have a very deep connection to their family. A bonsai tree can be passed along in the family for 400 years. When a grandmother makes a demand of a grandchild, even in the choice of a spouse. it would be very rare that such a demand is ignored. I have seen a gay man marry a woman because the grandmother demanded it.
Nevertheless meritocracy trumps biological family. If there is no member of the family who can carry on the tradition or family business, the family will look for a highly skilled outside man (or have a daughter marry such a man) who could carry on the tradition. The family will adopt that man into the family. The adoptee will take on the name of the family (and financially support his old family). This was the case with a close friend of mine who was a Japanese Senator. He was adopted into the Shiina family and subsequently took the position of his father who did not have a son capable of handling the role of a Senator.
I strongly support the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis based on my 40 years of research in Japan.