“Words”, Radiolab
3. Jill Bolte Taylor discusses the loss of silence when
reaching a certain point in relearning language after experiencing a stroke.
She says that she misses the calm, peacefulness associated with lack of
communication. Since she had no memories or ability to think the way adults do,
she reverted back to a child-like state, only experiencing the world with her
senses. This state of being sounds appealing, maybe for a PhD in neurology who
has achieved 10+ years of university and has to return to that same academic
environment, surrounded by people anxious to speak to her about her experience
of ‘rebirth’. Personally, I would rather possess language, the ability to
communicate my thoughts and feelings. Taylor talks about the frustration she
experienced when she still could not link words in her head together to make
comprehensible phrases. In this situation, where one is not deaf and can hear
but not speak, I feel as though I’d choose to live a life full of relationships
in which complex interactions are exchanged. The company and contact of other
humans is what brings happiness in life.
4. Susan Schaller’s student, Ildefonso began as a shy,
introvert in deaf classes. While mental silence might be appealing to some, I
believe that after 27 years Ildefonso craved what he learned through language.
Even though he cannot remember his thought process before words and phrases
clouded his mind, must have yearned for the ease which communication brings. He
kept returning to classes day after day, whether for his uncle’s sake or his
own. He eventually grasped the concept of communication and continued to
explore the realm of thought. One cannot be forced to learn, he wanted to. Just
as he cannot return to his friends and communicate with them, Ildefonso found
language necessary and abandoned the solitude he previously experienced.
“How to Tame a Wild Tongue” by Gloria Anzaldua
3. Just like Anzaldua identifies as mestiza, so do I. My
father is Anglo American, a clusterfuck of Nordic ancestry, and my mother is
Mexican, the real Mexican of Spanish and Native American heritage. My
grandmother on my father’s side comes from Branson, Missouri where we’d spend
summers riding our bikes around Long Beach and jumping in the lake, then going
to Silver Dollar City and spend all day riding rollercoasters. Summers spent in
Laredo, TX were between aunts, uncles, and abuela’s houses doing their manual
labor, making caldos in Tia Nani’s kitchen, and listening to chisme about our
family. This has created an awkward inbalance of culture. On one hand, I speak
Spanish and enjoy a little cumbia now and then. On the other hand, my Spanish
is choppy and I’m no Selena. However, when asked what I am, I proudly answer
Mexican. Despite that I’m not from Mexico, I am from El Paso. I will always be
a border-town girl, a Chicana. I look ‘white’, I act ‘white’, people don’t
believe I’m anything other than ‘white’. I negotiate between these identities
by feeling one in my soul, my true identity, and merely being the other because
that’s how society has shaped me.
4. Denying a group of people their language is a violation
of the first amendment. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness lay the
foundation for this country. If people want to speak Spanish and it makes them
happy, so be it. The Constitution provides that freedom. Denying a group of
people their language is also an act of violence. Students have been whipped,
beaten, and bullied in schools for speaking Spanish. Violence is defined by
physical anguish intended to hurt, damage, or kill someone or something. The
alienation of a people causes pain and suffering, of the mind and heart. I
agree wholeheartedly, the oppression of an ethnic group violates the supposed
unalienable rights our country guarantees.
"Words"
ReplyDelete3. When Jill Bolte Taylor retells the feelings she had while having a stroke, and describing the event in an almost serene exposure, the picture that her words created for me was just pure peace. Our minds are constantly running, thinking, and creating complex thoughts and feelings. In a way I would have to agree with Taylor in the longing for that peace. Although for the event to actually occur it would be a terrifying experience, but for those few moments of empty thoughts and no worries or stressful decisions, the lost mind would feel content. I also agree with Annie Gonzalez, when she states, " I feel as though I’d choose to live a life full of relationships in which complex interactions are exchanged". The complexity of our thoughts can also give us a state of contentment, for our thoughts are what allows us to communicate and create relationships with others.
4. I believe that Ildefonso was still at peace even though he was unable to communicate with people, because he has never in his life felt the interaction of language with anyone. He grew up not knowing the relationship of words between two or more people. I do also feel that he had a longing to communicate and understand people because of how he would mimic and sign back the words he was hearing. Although he didn't understand what they meant he still tried and longed for that feeling of interaction. When he was able to form the idea of what object was what it gave him happiness. He stats that his way of thinking has altered from how it used to be when he couldn't communicate and how it was today. Even though he does not recall the feeling of not being able to communicate, communication gives him a sense of relationship with his friends. With communication in his life, it has probably becomes easier to live in the sense that he is able to tell people what is on his mind and how he is feeling. The relationships built on communication can in return give a person a sense of comfort.
"Words"
ReplyDelete2. I agree to some extent with Elizabeth Spelke that language creates links in our brain. Words by themselves don’t always have the same meaning, which is why kids don’t always understand the whole meaning of some words until they are a little older. The idea of words being like islands in our brains describes perfectly how the brain connects all these simple words into complex thoughts.
On the other hand, each word has its particular meaning and shouldn’t have to be put together with other words to make sense. Words by themselves are often enough to make us understand spatial concepts. Of course some of these concepts are not going to sink in immediately, we will need some reference to completely understand them. The first time we heard the word “left” probably didn’t meant a lot, but with time and a better understanding of the concept of space we understood the meaning of it. Same with colors, the word blue doesn’t mean anything if we don’t have some kind of reference.
I agree with the idea that having more complex words allows people to think more complex thoughts. Although not necessarily, a complex word gives a better description of itself. Having a better explanation of a particular word, place, person, etc., makes a more complete idea in our brain, helping us to link these complex words into a more complex thought.
1. Having a particular word for each concept does make us understand it better. The simple fact of having that one word that we didn’t know exist for that one particular concept, helps us round the meaning of it and understand it better.
There are a lot untranslatable words that are very interesting. Such as “Jayus”, this word describes a situation where someone makes a bad joke and it is so bad that you have to laugh. It sounds to me that having this word might help a lot in a situation like this by just saying “you made a jayus”. Or the word “Cafuné”, Portuguese word that means to run ones fingers through someone’s hair. I particularly like this word because I have always wanted to find a word that describes precisely this action. Another untranslatable word that caught my eye is, “Duende”. It is a Spanish word that means, “the mysterious power that a work of art has to deeply move a person”. It is very interesting because I didn’t know this word evolved into that particular meaning. I have always thought that a “Duende” was a creature that lived in the forest that has magical powers. Although I have always been a fan of the “Duendes”, now that I know this other meaning, I like it even more. There is no word, at least in Spanish, that describes this feeling of being so overwhelmed by a painting. So I very much appreciate it.
Having all these words helps a lot to express what we are thinking, feeling, etc., but I don’t think knowing them changes the concept or the idea that have about them.
I think it's very interesting how the loss of words was described. I've never met someone that wasn't able to talk or understand language. We all have that ability. Yet, here is someone who, for 27 years, didn't understand anything in or of the world. Even the smallest of things, such as a cat, or clock, he didn't know what made that object a form in his head. It leaves me to wonder what he thought of people and their movements and surroundings for 27 years. It's interesting how the story shows a contrast between someone who had the ability to speak, then lost it, and someone who never knew the meaning of a word, and gained it. It left me contemplating what situation I would rather be in. Confused, frustrated, and alone for 27 years? Or having 17 years of normalcy, only to have it taken away. I think I would want the gift of discovering a language. I could find joy within that experience. I don't know that I would be able to cope with the mental trauma of losing everything I knew. If I had a voice in my head I think that would leave me feeling frustrated, more than anything. I would want to be able to talk to people, to express my feelings or opinions. To lose that ability would be, in a sense, painful. I can't imagine being the only single, solitary person I could share my thoughts with. I would feel constantly trapped within myself once I'd lost the ability to share thoughts with other people.
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