From: "Hal E. Fulton" <hal9000@...>
Date: 2002-09-07T07:56:41+09:00
Subject: OT: Whorf (Was Re: Larry Wall's comments on Ruby)

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Matt Gushee" <mgushee@havenrock.com>
To: "ruby-talk ML" <ruby-talk@ruby-lang.org>
Sent: Friday, September 06, 2002 5:47 PM
Subject: Re: Larry Wall's comments on Ruby


> On Sat, Sep 07, 2002 at 07:38:54AM +0900, Hal E. Fulton wrote:
> > 
> > "Language shapes the way we think and determines
> > what we can think about."
> >                   Benjamin Whorf
> 
> Well, linguists these days don't think too much of *his* work. Much of
> it relied on generalizations about indigenous cultures that he never
> actually observed. Though his mentor, Sapir, whose conclusions were more
> moderate, is still respected.

Still a bright person with fascinating ideas. He just
went overboard.

I admire him because his real field was chemical engineering,
yet he managed to make a stir in the linguistic community.
Granted many of his ideas were wrong. He was just an amateur,
after all.

It's when I reflect on his status as a self-taught amateur
that I respect him again.

Hal