This week, instead of a podcast, I've embedded an 18-minute TedTalk by Linguist Stephen Pinker (who has very cool hair). He talks about how our linguistic habits can reveal who we are without us even realizing it. The argument arises: is this something we absorb from our culture, or something we cultivate as our environment influences us? Or both?
There is a Biblical allegory in which human beings (who all speak the same language) collaborate and decide to build a tower to heaven, known as the Tower of Babel. God becomes angry and at once punishes the men and women and puts a stop to the progress of the tower by giving them all different languages, thereby ceasing collaboration and communication. This is one of many stories that tries to answer the question: How did human beings come to speak so many different languages. This is also an example of the power of language.
Using your knowledge of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, your own experience, and examples, discuss the idea of the power of language. Perhaps you have a real-life example which adequately illustrates how powerful language can, indeed, be. Perhaps you've read a book or seen a film in which language's power is either literally or metaphorically represented. Or, if you like, you can come at this from another angle and discuss what you see as attempts made to control the power of language. Are there things we are "allowed" or "not allowed" to say? Who decides how much power to give to language? Can this power be taken away? Are there things you are not permitted to say or are encouraged to say? Who sets these parameters?
Quotes to Ponder: Rudyard Kipling, the author of The Jungle Book, stated that, "Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind."
Children's Rhyme: "Sticks and stones can break my bones, but words will never hurt me."
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