[POLL] Self Actualization linked with how many Languages one speaks?

[mmKay]

Based on my experience, people who speak more than one language are somewhat more openminded and SLIGHTLY less dogmatic.

My claim is that you don't really find these people  as "vegetating, and super low-consciousness".

Also IMO, speaking more than one language is proportionate towards leaning slightly to the Left, rarely ever conservative. 

The idea of this topic came from me realizing that when it comes to choosing who I hang out with I used to ALLWAYS unconsciously gravitate towards polyglot people like myself, and it resulting in more likemindedness and a better fit. 

 

P.S. : I'm not implying that  knowing more languages solves all of the sneaky mind problems, but that there is a kind of way that the mind turns out to be as a result of increasing the complexity and depth of thinking in different languages ( increasing perspective ). 

P.P.S. Something is telling me that being a polyglot would be a quality of a Stage Yellow thinker ( but not a requirement) 

Edited November 13, 2020 by mmKay

[mmKay]

Shameless bump ? 

[PurpleTree]

3

[Gesundheit]

Modern Arabic is my mother language. I know multiple accents and I know the original/native language. Fluency: high.

English is my second language and I'm familiar with the Jamaican accent. Fluency: medium.

I know a little French and German. Fluency: poor.

I'm gonna go with the three languages voting option.

[Hello from Russia]

Yeah, there is something. I find people in Russia how don't know English to be way more closed-minded than those who do

[meow_meow]

11 minutes ago, Hello from Russia said:

Yeah, there is something. I find people in Russia how don't know English to be way more closed-minded than those who do

Yes, and russian people here in Eastern Europe, who don't even bother learning the local language (and hate americans), are mostly red - slightly orange.

Also from what I've noticed is that this applies mostly to older russian people (40+) They have that "Soviet" propaganda installed so deeply in them, which is anti-democratic and anti-american, that not only they don't know english - they hate it, they also hate Obama, and are mostly racist/anti-vegan and more prone to alcohol/gambling abuse.

However - the younger generation look like they don't really have an issue against enlgish language or the Western world in general.

Edited November 14, 2020 by meow_meow

[PurpleTree]

1 minute ago, Hello from Russia said:

Yeah, there is something. I find people in Russia how don't know English to be way more closed-minded than those who do

So are those people more open minded because they know English and can thus consume entertainment and news from various countries/sources/cultures?

Or have they already been more open minded and that's why they learned English in the first place?

Probably a mix of both

 

[Gesundheit]

On 13/11/2020 at 11:06 AM, mmKay said:

Based on my experience, people who speak more than one language are somewhat more openminded and SLIGHTLY less dogmatic.

My claim is that you don't really find these people  as "vegetating, and super low-consciousness".

Also IMO, speaking more than one language is proportionate towards leaning slightly to the Left, rarely ever conservative. 

The idea of this topic came from me realizing that when it comes to choosing who I hang out with I used to ALLWAYS unconsciously gravitate towards polyglot people like myself, and it resulting in more likemindedness and a better fit. 

 

P.S. : I'm not implying that  knowing more languages solves all of the sneaky mind problems, but that there is a kind of way that the mind turns out to be as a result of increasing the complexity and depth of thinking in different languages ( increasing perspective ). 

P.P.S. Something is telling me that being a polyglot would be a quality of a Stage Yellow thinker ( but not a requirement) 

Yeah I agree. I think language is an important factor to being open-minded. Though I know several people who speak more than 2 languages and are still dogmatic patriotic nationalist idiots. They all are from the same ethnicity so I think it's their upbringing because it emphasizes on the importance of land etc... cuz they're a minority. As a matter of fact, I know one guy from that particular ethnicity, he speaks 5 languages including his mother language, and he's still dogmatic as fuck when it comes to his homeland (or the idea of it).

[flume]

Would make sense, right? Speaking multiple languages broadens your horizon by exposing you to more cultures (at least on paper, but ideally also in person). You can connect and exchange ideas with more people, which makes yellow thinking more likely. You also feel how your way of thinking shifts when using a different language, so you start wondering how language shapes your reality. I feel like languages bring out slightly different personalities in people, so you might even gain more perspective on yourself as a person. There’s definitely a correlation of people being more open minded in countries where you’re expected to speak multiple languages. If it's not stressed, people tend to look less beyond their own understanding of the world.

[mmKay]

23 hours ago, PurpleTree said:

So are those people more open minded because they know English and can thus consume entertainment and news from various countries/sources/cultures?

Or have they already been more open minded and that's why they learned English in the first place?

Imo it's complicated. If you get exposed to various languages since a young age,  you are likely to be somewhat more openminded. 

I'd say the age of being exposed to languages matters a lot, aside of many many other factors. 

My mother for example, has been exposed to german and Spanish 20+ years and knows virtually nothing, simply because of the mindset of "I don't want to have anything to do with that " 

[Hello from Russia]

On 11/14/2020 at 10:13 PM, PurpleTree said:

So are those people more open minded because they know English and can thus consume entertainment and news from various countries/sources/cultures?

Or have they already been more open minded and that's why they learned English in the first place?

Probably a mix of both

 

Yep, exactly. Those people can experience Western culture (and many different cultures using English) for what it is, not the brainwashed propaganda version we get fed up by our university professors/school teachers/parents/politicians/news. If you don't know English you are basically stuck in that and then, you're Fucked

[mmKay]

☝

[Espaim]

There's not much incentive to learn other languages if you speak English. Though if your native language isn't English learning it definitely opens a lot of doors and makes for more open-minded people in other countries

[RichnNL]

I think your theory is a bit off. When you speak more than 1 language you are more likely to intuitively understand the language problem. That when you say the word sofa or whatever that the other person may not be thinking of a two person loveseat or whatever you are thinking of.

And if you speak more than one language then you have probably been exposed to more cultures. Or more bubbles thereby also intuitively realising you yourself life in one of many bubbles. But there are plenty of people who speak another language for purely survival purposes and I wouldn't say they are more open-minded. For example when you move to another country just for economical reasons know how to communicate to get what you want but dont immerse yourself in the new environment.

[mmKay]

@Husseinisdoingfine huh thats an odd mix. 

@RichnNL uhh I can't seem to understand what you just exactly said. Basically "yes" to everything I claimed? 

[mmKay]

@Husseinisdoingfine I see what you mean. The potential for memeing grows exponentially with your understanding of multiple languages. It's a polyglot thing. Iykyk. 

[Tim R]

Wow, I'm a bit surprised at how many bi- and multilingual people we have on this forum! 

For me it's German (first language), English, Russian (and a bit French).

 

https://www.brainscape.com/academy/benefits-of-being-multilingual/

 

Man, I'd really like to create some statistics on the average forum user, don't wanna spam you guys with polls tho?

[Preety_India]

I know 5 languages. But I won't be comfortable telling which ones. 

 

[LastThursday]

On 10/12/2020 at 8:00 AM, Tim R said:

Wow, I'm a bit surprised at how many bi- and multilingual people we have on this forum! 

Well. If the people who are interested in the forum are equally distributed around the world, and the forum imposes the rule that you must communicate in English - then it's not so surprising that bilingualism comes out on top. Yellow thinking. But what can I say, I'm bilingual? Ha ha ha.

[Tim R]

1 hour ago, LastThursday said:

If the people who are interested in the forum are equally distributed around the world

They're not tho

Also I think the bilingualism isn't a consequence of the global distribution of the forum users but rather the fact that most users are from western countries, where you get taught (at least) two languages at school

Edited December 11, 2020 by Tim R