>>>>> "John" == John Turnbull <john at turnbull.org> writes:
John> And people think differently because of the languages they
John> know. My experience has been that knowing one language one
John> can express oneself fairly well. When I used three
John> languages on a daily basis I would sometimes need to switch
John> languages mid-sentence to use a word in another language.
I also switch languages on-the-fly when I talk with my colleagues.
When talking to elderly people, I'll traslate everything into Chinese.
When talking to non-Chinese speaking people, I'll translate everything
into English. However, when I think, I don't have to switch languages
--- I think without words and hence independently of any language.
The ideas are there as ideas in my mind. I only need to choose a
language when I want to say it out or write it down.
>> Mind you again that there are often concepts that cannot (yet)
>> be expressed in words in any known languages.
John> I don't think so, and it's obviously pointless to ask for an
John> example, as by your definition you can't express it.
Why did physicists had to coin the new word "quark" for that very
concept? Why did physicits have to coin the new term "chromatic
charge" for those new concepts in quantum mechanics?
Explain to me how mathematicians think and develop the concepts before
the words "complex number", "differentiation", "vector",
"integration", "tensor", "curl", "quarternion", etc. are coined.
John> Do you really need to memorize the shape of a triangle? Or
John> is it just a word in the language of geometry?
No, it's not a word, but a CONCEPT. A concept in my mind does not
require words to represent. A concept is a concept is a concept. It
is independent of words of any lauguage. I only need words when I
want to communicate with others (reading other's writing, writing my
own essays, talking/discussing).
BTW, how do you think deaf people think?
--
Lee Sau Dan $(0,X)wAV(B(Big5) ~{@nJX6X~}(HZ)
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