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Re:Natural language instructions induce generalization in ne... by coldtea on Tuesday March 19, 2024 @09:09PM (#39761998)
>Strong Sapir-Whorf (linguistic determinism - language constrains thought) became pretty much seen as a joke by the 1980s

Was there any substantial empirical reason it was "seen as a joke", or just changing philosophical fashion?

Re:Natural language instructions induce generalization in ne... by jameshart on Tuesday March 19, 2024 @10:09PM (#39762290)
In general, as I understand it, there was only ever evidence for a weak version, and many of the cited anthropological examples that make the case turn out to have dubious factual basis - the old ‘Eskimos have hundreds of words for snow’ and ‘there’s a tribe in Africa who have no word for numbers greater than three’ stuff, all filtered through layers of academic anecdote and institutional racism.
Re:Natural language instructions induce generalization in ne... by throwaway_6142 on Tuesday March 19, 2024 @10:45PM (#39762444)
> institutional racism

are you absolutely certain that your thoughts are not being constrained by your language?