1 00:00:00,700 --> 00:00:02,533 Wittgenstein was only half right 2 00:00:02,933 --> 00:00:04,966 Language also shapes consciousness. 3 00:00:06,066 --> 00:00:07,833 We talked about Wittgenstein three months ago 4 00:00:08,500 --> 00:00:11,300 It was about his famous quote that shocked the entire philosophical community 5 00:00:11,866 --> 00:00:13,333 Anything unspeakable 6 00:00:13,366 --> 00:00:14,700 We have to keep quiet. 7 00:00:15,500 --> 00:00:18,033 In that video we were talking about the boundaries of language 8 00:00:18,633 --> 00:00:21,566 The discussion is about the fate of AI trapped in a language bottle 9 00:00:22,366 --> 00:00:24,700 But today I'm going to flip this coin. 10 00:00:24,700 --> 00:00:25,533 Show you the other side 11 00:00:26,366 --> 00:00:28,066 Because Wittgenstein was only half right. 12 00:00:28,866 --> 00:00:29,566 Hello 13 00:00:29,566 --> 00:00:30,433 Hello. 14 00:00:30,466 --> 00:00:31,166 I am Wang Lijie 15 00:00:32,200 --> 00:00:33,633 Wittgenstein says 16 00:00:33,666 --> 00:00:35,700 The boundaries of language are the boundaries of the world 17 00:00:36,533 --> 00:00:38,033 There are two layers of meaning hidden in this sentence 18 00:00:38,833 --> 00:00:40,466 Many people have heard of the first floor 19 00:00:40,500 --> 00:00:43,100 It's something other than language, you can't tell. 20 00:00:43,100 --> 00:00:44,266 So it must be silent 21 00:00:45,266 --> 00:00:46,366 But the second floor 22 00:00:46,366 --> 00:00:47,566 Few people savor it carefully 23 00:00:48,300 --> 00:00:49,333 Now listen up. 24 00:00:49,366 --> 00:00:52,366 If the boundaries of language are the boundaries of the world 25 00:00:52,366 --> 00:00:53,533 It's the other way around. 26 00:00:53,566 --> 00:00:55,200 How rich is your language? 27 00:00:55,200 --> 00:00:56,933 How big is your world? 28 00:00:57,500 --> 00:00:59,733 What is the structure of your language? 29 00:00:59,766 --> 00:01:01,733 What shape does your mind have? 30 00:01:02,466 --> 00:01:04,033 This is not a philosophical slogan 31 00:01:04,066 --> 00:01:05,966 Not chicken soup for Moments 32 00:01:06,533 --> 00:01:09,566 And this is a cognitive science fact that's been proven over and over again. 33 00:01:09,900 --> 00:01:11,966 In the last century, there were two linguists. 34 00:01:11,966 --> 00:01:15,000 Edward Sapir and his student Benjamin Wolf 35 00:01:15,033 --> 00:01:17,233 He put forward a famous hypothesis. 36 00:01:17,266 --> 00:01:18,466 Academics call it 37 00:01:18,466 --> 00:01:20,066 Principle of linguistic relativity 38 00:01:20,500 --> 00:01:22,433 The core proposition is only one sentence 39 00:01:22,466 --> 00:01:23,800 What language do you speak? 40 00:01:23,800 --> 00:01:25,300 What world do you live in? 41 00:01:25,666 --> 00:01:26,633 Not a metaphor 42 00:01:26,633 --> 00:01:27,766 Is literal 43 00:01:27,933 --> 00:01:30,466 I know you might think this is an exaggeration 44 00:01:30,500 --> 00:01:32,366 Isn't language just a tool? 45 00:01:32,433 --> 00:01:35,233 I think in Chinese and I think in English. 46 00:01:35,266 --> 00:01:37,100 Would the conclusion be different? 47 00:01:37,200 --> 00:01:37,966 Don't worry. 48 00:01:37,966 --> 00:01:39,766 Let me show you a few experiments. 49 00:01:39,800 --> 00:01:42,200 And you're probably going to have to re-examine your brain. 50 00:01:42,233 --> 00:01:45,133 Those thoughts you thought you came up with 51 00:01:45,366 --> 00:01:46,500 The first experiment 52 00:01:46,533 --> 00:01:47,700 About color 53 00:01:47,966 --> 00:01:48,900 In English. 54 00:01:48,900 --> 00:01:50,833 Blue is blue. 55 00:01:50,866 --> 00:01:52,800 One word, blue 56 00:01:52,800 --> 00:01:56,533 From the light blue of the sky to the navy blue at night 57 00:01:56,900 --> 00:01:58,366 But it's different in Russian 58 00:01:58,900 --> 00:02:01,700 The Russian language has two completely independent basic color words 59 00:02:01,733 --> 00:02:05,300 Goluboy for light blue, siniy for dark blue 60 00:02:05,700 --> 00:02:06,233 Attention 61 00:02:06,266 --> 00:02:10,633 This is not an adjective modification like light blue and dark blue in Chinese. 62 00:02:10,633 --> 00:02:13,300 They're two fundamentally different words. 63 00:02:13,333 --> 00:02:18,066 Just like red and orange are two completely different colors to you 64 00:02:18,066 --> 00:02:19,366 Year 2007 65 00:02:19,366 --> 00:02:22,000 Boroditsky, a cognitive scientist at Stanford University 66 00:02:22,000 --> 00:02:24,866 And her team did a very elaborate experiment. 67 00:02:24,900 --> 00:02:27,366 It was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 68 00:02:27,666 --> 00:02:30,200 They got Russian speakers and English speakers 69 00:02:30,333 --> 00:02:33,166 And at the same time, look at the color blocks that flash across the screen. 70 00:02:33,166 --> 00:02:36,300 Determine if two blue squares are the same color 71 00:02:36,666 --> 00:02:37,733 It turned out that 72 00:02:37,766 --> 00:02:41,500 When two color blocks, one is light blue and the other is dark blue 73 00:02:41,500 --> 00:02:45,566 Russian speakers react significantly faster than English speakers 74 00:02:45,933 --> 00:02:47,166 And here's the thing. 75 00:02:47,200 --> 00:02:50,300 When scientists had these Russian speakers do color judgments 76 00:02:50,300 --> 00:02:53,000 Perform a language jamming task simultaneously 77 00:02:53,000 --> 00:02:55,966 Like having them mentally recite a string of numbers. 78 00:02:55,966 --> 00:02:57,600 occupies the language processing channel 79 00:02:57,633 --> 00:02:59,666 That speed advantage disappears. 80 00:03:00,000 --> 00:03:02,266 But if the jamming mission is spatial 81 00:03:02,266 --> 00:03:03,733 Does not occupy a language channel 82 00:03:03,766 --> 00:03:04,933 The speed advantage still exists 83 00:03:05,600 --> 00:03:06,766 What does that mean? 84 00:03:06,966 --> 00:03:10,133 Language is not an afterthought. 85 00:03:10,400 --> 00:03:14,500 The moment you see a color, language intervenes. 86 00:03:14,833 --> 00:03:16,066 Your vocabulary 87 00:03:16,066 --> 00:03:17,500 It's your perceptual filter. 88 00:03:17,900 --> 00:03:18,933 You have the word 89 00:03:18,966 --> 00:03:22,200 Your brain is faster at recognizing the difference. 90 00:03:22,333 --> 00:03:23,533 You don't have the word 91 00:03:23,566 --> 00:03:25,066 Of course you can see it too 92 00:03:25,400 --> 00:03:29,333 But your brain puts them into the same category by default. 93 00:03:29,333 --> 00:03:30,766 Slow and rough 94 00:03:31,166 --> 00:03:33,100 Think about what that means. 95 00:03:33,466 --> 00:03:35,000 You learn from the language of fiction 96 00:03:35,000 --> 00:03:36,566 Before you know it 97 00:03:36,600 --> 00:03:38,600 It has been decided for you. 98 00:03:38,633 --> 00:03:41,133 What differences are worth noting in this world? 99 00:03:41,133 --> 00:03:43,066 What differences can be ignored? 100 00:03:43,133 --> 00:03:44,733 The second experiment was even more shocking 101 00:03:44,733 --> 00:03:46,333 Regarding time and space 102 00:03:46,633 --> 00:03:51,100 Boroditsky is in a place called Pomprao in northern Australia. 103 00:03:51,100 --> 00:03:53,066 We studied an Aboriginal tribe. 104 00:03:53,066 --> 00:03:55,300 They speak Kukutayore. 105 00:03:55,666 --> 00:03:58,733 Now, this language has one amazing feature. 106 00:03:58,733 --> 00:04:00,733 It doesn't have left and right. 107 00:04:01,200 --> 00:04:02,400 You heard right 108 00:04:02,400 --> 00:04:05,633 There's no such thing as left or right in their language. 109 00:04:05,900 --> 00:04:09,533 They describe all spatial relationships using absolute positions 110 00:04:09,533 --> 00:04:10,566 southeast northwest 111 00:04:11,000 --> 00:04:12,466 No matter what the situation is 112 00:04:12,500 --> 00:04:13,533 They all say 113 00:04:13,566 --> 00:04:15,800 Pass me the cup southeast of you. 114 00:04:15,933 --> 00:04:16,700 or 115 00:04:16,733 --> 00:04:19,166 There's an ant on your north foot 116 00:04:20,500 --> 00:04:22,933 Say every sentence with a direction 117 00:04:22,966 --> 00:04:24,833 You have to predict where the north is 118 00:04:25,233 --> 00:04:27,033 That sounds like an inconvenience. 119 00:04:27,066 --> 00:04:28,600 It has the opposite effect. 120 00:04:29,000 --> 00:04:31,566 Because their language forces them to speak before 121 00:04:31,600 --> 00:04:33,966 Location must be sensed at all times 122 00:04:33,966 --> 00:04:35,433 Everyone in this tribe 123 00:04:35,466 --> 00:04:36,500 Including children 124 00:04:36,500 --> 00:04:38,700 Have an amazing sense of direction 125 00:04:39,100 --> 00:04:41,333 In a completely unfamiliar indoor environment 126 00:04:41,333 --> 00:04:44,066 Without the sun, without reference 127 00:04:44,200 --> 00:04:46,566 They can also pinpoint the southeast and northwest 128 00:04:47,200 --> 00:04:49,700 And those of us who speak Chinese and English 129 00:04:49,866 --> 00:04:52,933 You can't tell north from south by turning twice in a closed room 130 00:04:53,200 --> 00:04:56,166 But the highlight was Boroditsky's experiment with time. 131 00:04:56,500 --> 00:04:58,700 She gave these people a set of photographs. 132 00:04:58,700 --> 00:05:01,533 For example, the process of changing a person from childhood to old age 133 00:05:01,566 --> 00:05:03,400 Let's put them in chronological order. 134 00:05:03,866 --> 00:05:06,900 English speakers, without exception, go from left to right. 135 00:05:06,933 --> 00:05:09,500 Because English is written from left to right. 136 00:05:09,833 --> 00:05:12,700 Hebrew speakers from right to left 137 00:05:12,700 --> 00:05:15,033 Because Hebrew is written from right to left 138 00:05:15,400 --> 00:05:17,000 What about the Kukutayore? 139 00:05:17,133 --> 00:05:18,733 They row from east to west 140 00:05:19,133 --> 00:05:20,733 If they sit facing south 141 00:05:20,733 --> 00:05:21,933 The photo is from left to right 142 00:05:22,633 --> 00:05:24,300 If they sit facing north 143 00:05:24,333 --> 00:05:26,000 The photo is from right to left 144 00:05:26,366 --> 00:05:27,700 If you sit facing east 145 00:05:27,733 --> 00:05:30,633 The photo is spread in the direction of your body 146 00:05:31,600 --> 00:05:34,966 Their mental timeline is not fixed to their bodies 147 00:05:34,966 --> 00:05:36,766 It's fixed to the ground. 148 00:05:36,800 --> 00:05:38,233 Follow the sun 149 00:05:38,266 --> 00:05:39,533 From East to West 150 00:05:39,933 --> 00:05:41,333 You savor this 151 00:05:41,700 --> 00:05:45,000 They perceive time differently than we do. 152 00:05:45,166 --> 00:05:48,600 It's not that they voluntarily chose a different arrangement 153 00:05:48,633 --> 00:05:51,633 It's their language that installed them from birth. 154 00:05:51,633 --> 00:05:54,433 A completely different spatiotemporal operating system 155 00:05:54,733 --> 00:05:57,133 Language isn't describing their world. 156 00:05:57,166 --> 00:05:59,266 Languages are building their world 157 00:05:59,266 --> 00:06:02,266 This is the missing half of Wittgenstein's quote. 158 00:06:02,766 --> 00:06:05,300 Language boundaries are more than just walls 159 00:06:05,333 --> 00:06:07,166 Block your view beyond the wall 160 00:06:07,566 --> 00:06:09,933 The boundaries of language are a scaffolding 161 00:06:10,000 --> 00:06:13,000 It holds up your entire cognitive structure inside the walls. 162 00:06:13,333 --> 00:06:16,166 How you categorize the world, your sense of time 163 00:06:16,566 --> 00:06:20,366 Your intuition of cause and effect, your sense of social hierarchy 164 00:06:20,366 --> 00:06:23,300 It all runs on top of the underlying operating system, the language 165 00:06:23,500 --> 00:06:24,333 Speaking of which 166 00:06:24,366 --> 00:06:27,900 I have to talk about a topic that touches me personally 167 00:06:27,900 --> 00:06:30,600 Semantic collapse in Buddhist translation 168 00:06:30,933 --> 00:06:32,566 We Chinese read Buddhist scriptures 169 00:06:32,566 --> 00:06:35,366 Probably the first core concept I encountered was suffering 170 00:06:35,866 --> 00:06:36,633 The Truth of Suffering 171 00:06:36,633 --> 00:06:37,766 Kuji Mie Dao 172 00:06:37,800 --> 00:06:39,000 All beings suffer 173 00:06:39,366 --> 00:06:40,666 See the word suffering 174 00:06:40,700 --> 00:06:43,500 What does the brain of a native Chinese speaker automatically associate with? 175 00:06:43,700 --> 00:06:47,933 Pain, sadness, breakup, bad luck, bad days 176 00:06:48,266 --> 00:06:51,466 This is the semantic attractive force field of the word bitter in Chinese 177 00:06:52,033 --> 00:06:53,733 But the word that the Buddha said 178 00:06:53,733 --> 00:06:55,733 Pali is dukkha. 179 00:06:55,733 --> 00:06:57,233 It's duhkha in Sanskrit. 180 00:06:58,033 --> 00:07:01,466 The etymology of the word has several interpretations in academic circles 181 00:07:01,466 --> 00:07:04,333 One of the most popular ones is particularly picturesque 182 00:07:04,633 --> 00:07:07,566 Du means bad or difficult, kha 183 00:07:07,633 --> 00:07:10,133 It means hole in ancient Sanskrit 184 00:07:10,133 --> 00:07:12,533 Especially the shaft hole in the center of the wheel 185 00:07:12,800 --> 00:07:15,500 The word duhkha refers to the axle hole of the wheel 186 00:07:15,533 --> 00:07:17,366 And the bearings are not installed properly. 187 00:07:17,366 --> 00:07:21,666 The wheels were thudding, thudding, swaying, bumpy, fraying. 188 00:07:22,000 --> 00:07:23,666 Imagine that picture 189 00:07:23,666 --> 00:07:25,800 An ox cart is walking down a dirt road 190 00:07:25,833 --> 00:07:27,600 Wheels and axles are not aligned 191 00:07:27,633 --> 00:07:29,466 Every step is rubbing 192 00:07:29,500 --> 00:07:31,333 Every step wears away 193 00:07:31,666 --> 00:07:33,866 This image doesn't convey pain. 194 00:07:33,866 --> 00:07:35,066 It's not aligned. 195 00:07:35,300 --> 00:07:37,866 There is a gap between your expectations and reality 196 00:07:37,866 --> 00:07:40,533 It's what you think the world should be like 197 00:07:40,533 --> 00:07:44,000 And the way the world actually works 198 00:07:44,666 --> 00:07:45,666 The Buddha said suffering 199 00:07:45,700 --> 00:07:47,533 I'm not telling you that life is miserable 200 00:07:47,866 --> 00:07:49,500 To live is to suffer 201 00:07:49,900 --> 00:07:52,000 What he did was a sophisticated diagnosis 202 00:07:52,033 --> 00:07:56,366 There is a systematic misalignment between your cognitive system and the real world 203 00:07:56,366 --> 00:07:58,600 It's like the wheel and axle aren't aligned. 204 00:07:59,166 --> 00:08:00,000 Aimed 205 00:08:00,033 --> 00:08:01,266 The car runs smoothly 206 00:08:01,966 --> 00:08:04,333 This is an engineer's accurate description. 207 00:08:04,733 --> 00:08:07,100 Not the catharsis of a pessimist 208 00:08:07,833 --> 00:08:10,200 But the moment the word bitter was translated into Chinese 209 00:08:10,233 --> 00:08:11,600 The meaning collapses 210 00:08:12,500 --> 00:08:14,533 The word suffering is too emotional 211 00:08:14,766 --> 00:08:16,966 It has allowed Chinese readers for two thousand years 212 00:08:16,966 --> 00:08:19,333 Before I have a deep understanding of Buddhism 213 00:08:19,333 --> 00:08:22,066 He was led into a pessimistic emotional channel 214 00:08:22,366 --> 00:08:24,966 How many people are suffering because of the word suffering? 215 00:08:25,000 --> 00:08:27,000 Stopped at the gate of Buddhism and said something 216 00:08:27,433 --> 00:08:29,266 Buddhism is too negative 217 00:08:29,433 --> 00:08:30,866 Then he turned and walked away. 218 00:08:31,766 --> 00:08:33,300 It's not the translator's problem. 219 00:08:33,666 --> 00:08:34,900 Kumarashi is also good 220 00:08:34,900 --> 00:08:36,066 Xuanzang is also good 221 00:08:36,333 --> 00:08:39,366 They are the greatest translators in the history of human civilization 222 00:08:39,833 --> 00:08:41,466 But language is so domineering 223 00:08:41,766 --> 00:08:44,366 Every word has an attractive force 224 00:08:44,733 --> 00:08:47,133 You throw foreign concepts into this attractive force field 225 00:08:47,166 --> 00:08:48,300 It must be distorted 226 00:08:49,200 --> 00:08:50,266 Translation is not transportation 227 00:08:50,633 --> 00:08:53,500 It was recast with a mold of a different shape. 228 00:08:54,400 --> 00:08:55,700 The shape of the mold 229 00:08:55,700 --> 00:08:57,500 It's the structure of the host language. 230 00:08:57,933 --> 00:08:59,266 Think of another example. 231 00:08:59,766 --> 00:09:01,333 In English, it's used all over the world now. 232 00:09:01,366 --> 00:09:03,833 One word, mindfulness 233 00:09:03,833 --> 00:09:05,333 Chinese translation into mindfulness 234 00:09:06,400 --> 00:09:08,533 But the Pali word for mindfulness 235 00:09:08,533 --> 00:09:09,666 Is sati 236 00:09:09,700 --> 00:09:12,166 The original intention is to remember, remember 237 00:09:12,166 --> 00:09:16,033 And the central message is can you not be distracted in every single moment? 238 00:09:16,033 --> 00:09:17,933 Remember what you are doing 239 00:09:17,933 --> 00:09:19,366 Remember the teachings of the law 240 00:09:19,800 --> 00:09:22,466 It's closer to continuous awareness and memory. 241 00:09:23,133 --> 00:09:25,000 But the Chinese translation of mindfulness 242 00:09:25,000 --> 00:09:26,066 Added a orthography 243 00:09:26,566 --> 00:09:31,300 It subtly implies that there is a right thought that you need to maintain 244 00:09:31,333 --> 00:09:33,300 A specific state of mind is called positive 245 00:09:34,166 --> 00:09:35,966 The English translation of mindfulness 246 00:09:36,333 --> 00:09:38,033 With a mind ful 247 00:09:38,300 --> 00:09:41,533 And it suggests that this is a state of mental preoccupation. 248 00:09:42,033 --> 00:09:46,166 Transforms a dynamic process in the practice into a static spiritual filling 249 00:09:46,833 --> 00:09:48,166 After every translation 250 00:09:48,200 --> 00:09:50,166 Every time you pass through a language 251 00:09:50,200 --> 00:09:54,600 Original concepts are being reshaped by the semantic attractive force field of the host language 252 00:09:55,400 --> 00:09:57,333 So you think you're studying Buddhism? 253 00:09:57,333 --> 00:09:58,733 In fact, what you study is 254 00:09:58,766 --> 00:10:01,300 From Pali to Sanskrit to Chinese 255 00:10:01,333 --> 00:10:04,500 Or from Pali to English to Chinese. 256 00:10:04,500 --> 00:10:07,400 Every node in this translation chain is left 257 00:10:07,433 --> 00:10:09,233 Dharma after Transfiguration 258 00:10:09,700 --> 00:10:11,700 It's not that what you've learned is false 259 00:10:11,733 --> 00:10:13,700 It means you need to have this awareness 260 00:10:13,866 --> 00:10:16,266 What you are receiving is not the original signal 261 00:10:16,266 --> 00:10:18,966 It is a signal that has been encoded and decoded many times 262 00:10:19,533 --> 00:10:20,633 Know this 263 00:10:20,666 --> 00:10:24,733 You can consciously restore those dimensions lost in translation 264 00:10:24,800 --> 00:10:27,600 So let me take this finding a step further. 265 00:10:28,200 --> 00:10:30,800 If language shapes how individuals perceive 266 00:10:30,800 --> 00:10:34,833 Do different languages shape the collective consciousness of different civilizations? 267 00:10:35,366 --> 00:10:38,033 Chinese is a highly context-dependent language 268 00:10:38,066 --> 00:10:41,766 The same word can have completely different meanings in different contexts 269 00:10:42,266 --> 00:10:44,433 What is the way of thinking trained in Chinese? 270 00:10:44,733 --> 00:10:48,033 It's relational. It's holistic. It's contextual. 271 00:10:48,500 --> 00:10:49,733 You don't look at the context. 272 00:10:49,733 --> 00:10:50,900 Just look at one word. 273 00:10:50,933 --> 00:10:52,533 I often don't know what I'm talking about. 274 00:10:53,100 --> 00:10:55,300 English is a relatively low-context language 275 00:10:55,566 --> 00:10:57,300 Grammar rules are more explicit 276 00:10:57,300 --> 00:10:58,800 The subject-verb-object structure is more rigid 277 00:10:59,566 --> 00:11:02,700 The way of thinking trained in English is more analytical 278 00:11:02,700 --> 00:11:06,300 Linear, emphasizing the causal chain between subject and action 279 00:11:07,100 --> 00:11:08,900 Please pay attention to the sentence pattern of English news. 280 00:11:08,900 --> 00:11:11,866 It's always who did what that led to. 281 00:11:11,900 --> 00:11:13,266 The subject is particularly clear 282 00:11:13,266 --> 00:11:14,833 Responsibilities are particularly clear 283 00:11:15,066 --> 00:11:16,233 What about Chinese news? 284 00:11:16,433 --> 00:11:18,966 It can often be written as something happened 285 00:11:19,000 --> 00:11:20,200 subject obscured 286 00:11:20,200 --> 00:11:21,366 It doesn't matter who did it 287 00:11:21,366 --> 00:11:22,800 What happens is important 288 00:11:23,300 --> 00:11:24,166 Look at Japanese again 289 00:11:24,700 --> 00:11:27,333 How complex is the Japanese honorific system? 290 00:11:27,666 --> 00:11:30,166 You talk to your superiors and you talk to your subordinates. 291 00:11:30,500 --> 00:11:32,000 The conjugations of verbs are different 292 00:11:33,066 --> 00:11:34,700 You haven't said anything yet 293 00:11:34,733 --> 00:11:37,300 Your choice of grammatical form is already declaring 294 00:11:37,300 --> 00:11:39,500 The social hierarchy between you and the other person 295 00:11:40,133 --> 00:11:41,233 So some people say 296 00:11:41,233 --> 00:11:43,400 The Japanese don't think before they speak 297 00:11:43,700 --> 00:11:46,166 It's about making relationships and then organizing language. 298 00:11:46,800 --> 00:11:48,933 The social perception radar of Japanese speakers 299 00:11:48,966 --> 00:11:50,833 Much more sensitive than English speakers 300 00:11:50,833 --> 00:11:52,100 It's not natural 301 00:11:52,100 --> 00:11:53,966 Language is trained from an early age 302 00:11:54,366 --> 00:11:56,733 It's not about which is more advanced. 303 00:11:57,300 --> 00:11:59,766 It's saying that every language is like a lens. 304 00:12:00,100 --> 00:12:02,200 It allows you to see something clearly 305 00:12:02,233 --> 00:12:06,133 But at the same time, it must make something else deform or disappear 306 00:12:06,700 --> 00:12:09,133 You just stack polygonal lenses together 307 00:12:09,300 --> 00:12:11,833 It is possible to approach the reality beyond the lens 308 00:12:12,366 --> 00:12:16,333 That's why I've been doing interdisciplinary, intercivilizational dialogue. 309 00:12:16,766 --> 00:12:18,333 Not because you can't chew more 310 00:12:18,800 --> 00:12:21,133 But because behind every language tradition 311 00:12:21,133 --> 00:12:23,566 Has a complete set of cognitive operating systems 312 00:12:24,333 --> 00:12:26,933 The Pali tradition of Buddhism opens a window 313 00:12:27,400 --> 00:12:31,066 The English tradition of modern cognitive science opens another window 314 00:12:31,666 --> 00:12:34,700 The ancient Chinese tradition of Chinese Taoism has opened another window 315 00:12:35,533 --> 00:12:38,366 Every window sees a different side of the same world 316 00:12:38,700 --> 00:12:40,400 You're standing in front of one window. 317 00:12:40,433 --> 00:12:44,366 And you would think that that slice in the window would be the whole world. 318 00:12:44,666 --> 00:12:47,066 The Buddha himself was well aware of this trap of language 319 00:12:47,300 --> 00:12:48,600 He repeatedly emphasized 320 00:12:48,600 --> 00:12:49,600 Fa is a raft 321 00:12:49,600 --> 00:12:50,600 For crossing the river 322 00:12:51,066 --> 00:12:52,566 When you get to the other side, you have to let go 323 00:12:53,033 --> 00:12:54,866 Language refers to the fingers of the moon 324 00:12:55,000 --> 00:12:56,133 Not the moon itself 325 00:12:56,866 --> 00:12:59,100 He saw it clearly 2,500 years ago 326 00:12:59,600 --> 00:13:03,000 Language is a tool with insurmountable systematic biases. 327 00:13:03,600 --> 00:13:07,566 Wittgenstein independently reached almost the same conclusion more than 2,000 years later 328 00:13:08,300 --> 00:13:09,733 But he only told one side of the coin. 329 00:13:10,433 --> 00:13:11,833 Anything unspeakable 330 00:13:11,833 --> 00:13:13,133 We have to keep quiet. 331 00:13:13,566 --> 00:13:14,800 The other side should be 332 00:13:15,066 --> 00:13:16,866 Anything that can be said 333 00:13:16,900 --> 00:13:18,700 It's been shaped by words. 334 00:13:19,233 --> 00:13:21,500 Your silence is limited by words 335 00:13:21,533 --> 00:13:24,133 Your expression is also limited by language 336 00:13:24,933 --> 00:13:27,766 You don't see the world through a clean window. 337 00:13:28,133 --> 00:13:30,700 You see the world through a colored glass. 338 00:13:31,166 --> 00:13:32,266 Your mother tongue. 339 00:13:32,300 --> 00:13:33,966 That's the color of the glass. 340 00:13:34,300 --> 00:13:37,833 I'll leave you with one last thought that makes me shiver late at night. 341 00:13:38,566 --> 00:13:40,800 If human consciousness is shaped by language 342 00:13:40,933 --> 00:13:41,733 What about AI? 343 00:13:42,233 --> 00:13:45,166 The large language model is trained primarily in English 344 00:13:45,900 --> 00:13:48,900 The way it thinks, the way it classifies the world. 345 00:13:49,300 --> 00:13:51,133 The way it deals with causality 346 00:13:51,633 --> 00:13:54,700 Has it been deeply shaped by the English operating system? 347 00:13:55,600 --> 00:13:59,433 When you speak to an AI in Chinese that has been trained primarily in English 348 00:13:59,933 --> 00:14:03,566 How much of your answer is a projection of English thinking? 349 00:14:04,266 --> 00:14:05,100 Further down, AI. 350 00:14:05,466 --> 00:14:08,866 The trained corpus covers dozens of major human languages 351 00:14:09,533 --> 00:14:12,566 But they represent a tiny fraction of the total human language. 352 00:14:13,366 --> 00:14:14,900 Humans have more than 7,000 languages 353 00:14:15,166 --> 00:14:18,100 Each encodes a unique cognitive model 354 00:14:18,800 --> 00:14:19,866 Languages that are dying 355 00:14:20,300 --> 00:14:23,700 Cognitive approaches encoded in languages that have never been digitized 356 00:14:24,366 --> 00:14:25,800 Is it lost forever? 357 00:14:26,566 --> 00:14:27,466 The world of AI 358 00:14:27,733 --> 00:14:29,033 Will it be from the beginning 359 00:14:29,033 --> 00:14:29,600 Just one. 360 00:14:29,600 --> 00:14:32,233 A world severely distorted by survivorship bias 361 00:14:32,533 --> 00:14:33,933 I have no answers to these questions. 362 00:14:34,466 --> 00:14:36,866 But they point to a more fundamental truth 363 00:14:37,666 --> 00:14:39,900 We tend to think that consciousness comes first. 364 00:14:40,200 --> 00:14:43,233 Language was a later tool for expressing consciousness. 365 00:14:44,000 --> 00:14:45,866 But the truth may just be the other way around 366 00:14:46,433 --> 00:14:48,266 Language is not a servant of consciousness 367 00:14:48,566 --> 00:14:50,866 Language is the architect of consciousness 368 00:14:51,400 --> 00:14:53,366 A large part of human consciousness 369 00:14:53,400 --> 00:14:55,900 It's built brick by brick by language. 370 00:14:56,566 --> 00:14:58,033 Have you ever had that experience? 371 00:14:58,700 --> 00:15:00,966 A vague feeling in my heart 372 00:15:01,266 --> 00:15:02,766 You can't tell what it is. 373 00:15:03,133 --> 00:15:06,133 But the moment you finally find a word to describe it 374 00:15:06,633 --> 00:15:08,633 The feeling suddenly became clear 375 00:15:09,100 --> 00:15:12,066 As if it were just a fog before it was named 376 00:15:12,433 --> 00:15:15,600 Named by a language, it solidifies into a concrete thing. 377 00:15:16,233 --> 00:15:17,166 This is not an illusion. 378 00:15:17,700 --> 00:15:20,433 Naming itself shapes your inner experience 379 00:15:21,033 --> 00:15:23,366 Areas of consciousness not illuminated by language 380 00:15:23,400 --> 00:15:25,333 May stay in chaos forever 381 00:15:25,966 --> 00:15:28,200 So the relationship between language and consciousness 382 00:15:28,200 --> 00:15:31,033 It's not a relationship between who comes first and who comes after, who is master and who is servant 383 00:15:31,300 --> 00:15:35,000 It is a co-evolutionary relationship that shapes and achieves each other 384 00:15:36,333 --> 00:15:38,966 Consciousness provides the raw material for language to express 385 00:15:39,200 --> 00:15:41,600 Language provides a structured framework for consciousness. 386 00:15:42,266 --> 00:15:44,666 The two have co-evolved over hundreds of thousands of years 387 00:15:44,900 --> 00:15:47,000 Has been entangled to the point where it cannot be separated 388 00:15:47,600 --> 00:15:48,933 What does that mean? 389 00:15:49,133 --> 00:15:51,566 It suggests the relationship between language and consciousness. 390 00:15:51,566 --> 00:15:53,633 Much deeper than we usually imagine 391 00:15:54,233 --> 00:15:56,166 Language is not a container for thinking. 392 00:15:56,666 --> 00:15:58,500 Language is the shape of thought. 393 00:15:58,933 --> 00:16:03,366 So the next time you come across a passage of scripture, a paper, a piece of news 394 00:16:03,666 --> 00:16:05,700 When you feel you already understand 395 00:16:05,833 --> 00:16:06,866 Stop for a second 396 00:16:06,866 --> 00:16:08,033 Ask yourself a question 397 00:16:08,566 --> 00:16:09,600 You understand 398 00:16:09,633 --> 00:16:12,166 That's what it's really about. 399 00:16:12,800 --> 00:16:16,366 Or is it the version rendered by your language operating system for you? 400 00:16:16,833 --> 00:16:18,666 There is no standard answer to this question 401 00:16:19,233 --> 00:16:21,066 But just asking this question 402 00:16:21,133 --> 00:16:23,966 Your cognition has been upgraded by a small version 403 00:16:24,300 --> 00:16:26,800 Do you think language has a significant impact on your thinking? 404 00:16:26,933 --> 00:16:29,200 Have you ever learned a foreign language? 405 00:16:29,200 --> 00:16:32,400 Suddenly discovered some concepts that the mother tongue could not express at all 406 00:16:32,566 --> 00:16:33,633 The comment area is waiting for you. 407 00:16:34,000 --> 00:16:34,933 I am Wang Lijie 408 00:16:35,033 --> 00:16:35,966 See you next time.