I stumbled onto this accidentally trying to find etymology of Today's Word, "ethology" It has many unusual words about science,art, etc,etc. My head was spinning in very short order. Well worth a look Bill

http://www.arts.ouc.bc.ca/fina/glossary/gloshome.html

Dr. Bill, I didn't have to look very long before finding this: .

LANGSCAPE: A neologism coined by Gaile McGregor to indicate the way conceptions of the world (formulated within language) actually alter perceptions of the world (expressed in the landscape). The notion is developed at length in her book Wacousta Syndrome: Explorations in the Canadian Langscape.

Does our language alter our perceptions? I'd rather thought it was the other way around--that we formulate language in an attempt to describe our perceptions. Has anyone read this book? Jo, I'd really like your thoughts on this.

Oh yes, words alter our perception..

as a trainer, i realize the words i use to present information effect the way people think about the information!

When my daughter was a pre-schooler, and her older brother was already learning how to print.. she marked up some paper and said " i can write too" a friend dismissed her paper, and kindly said, "Yours is just scribble scrabble"

Emily stood tall, took back her paper, and said "No, its not scribble scrabble, its toy script!"

Now, scribble is hasty, worthless, or careless, with out reguard to legibility or form. and scrabble is an alternate word for scribble..

but toy script, like toy money, is not the real thing, it something for a child.. and like any toy, it is an imitation of a real object, and has a similar form, and some functionality, but it not ever thought to be the real thing.

Doesn't toy script change how you think about what was on the page? Emily knew she wasn't really able to print and write like her brother.. but her stuff wasn't worthless!

(an second interest point is Emily knew the word script!)

Does our language alter our perceptions?

My recall on this is very vague, but I believe that was precisely the thesis of British philosopher A. J. Ayer (I believe in Language, Truth and Logic.) Can anyone confirm, clarify or correct my recall?

Dear Keiva: your recollection is corrct. But my head is spinning again trying to grasp Logical Positivism

http://abacus.bates.edu/Faculty/Philosophy and Religion/Philosophy/metsem/ayer.html

For some unkownreason, URL doesn't work But I found it just by typing in your data, Keiva

Wacousta Syndrome?

What is the origin of that name?

[used-to-live-in-Wacousta-Michigan emoticon]

Ayer crossed my bows when I was working on a thesis. He's right and he's wrong! Well, IMHO. He's right that many philosophical statements (or statements of "fact") cannot be logically proven, but he's wrong when he contends that this lack of absolute provability renders them worthless.

As the article stated, it all came out of believing what Wittgenstein had to say. Or at least, choosing to act as if they believed him which, as Ayre would probably have contended, is as far as logical proof could be taken empirically.

What was that old saw about the observer altering the state if the subject being studied?

But ... Wittgenstein was a beery swine, but not as sloshed as Schlagel.

What was that old saw about the observer altering the state of the subject being studied?

The Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, I believe.

Sidebar: Werner Heisenberg, a highlu respected physicist, became the head of Nazi Germany's nuclear program. A current theatrical play focused on his 1941 meeting with Neils Bohr in occupied Copenhagen: it is unclear whether he tried to recruit Bohr, or leaked information to Bohr. Documents have been very recently released which may shed light on that meeting.
http://physicsweb.org/article/world/14/11/2

That is great Helen. Your daughter has a good head on her shoulders.

I think it is a fabulous discription and I know I'll adopt it when talking to kiddies - it does sound so much better than scribble and it will make them feel good.

Give your daughter my thanks.