language vs. economics

[MorphemeAddict]

I found the following video very interesting. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=m9x8l9vXU9w

It may be that speakers of languages with a strong future time reference (e.g., English, Italian, Russian) have better lives economically than speakers of languages with weak future time reference (e.g., Chinese, German). 

A language designed without a mandatory tense marker (in particular, for the future tense), e.g., Lojban, might be better for its speakers than having an obligatory future tense marker, e.g., Esperanto. 

stevo

[vruxir]

On Wednesday, April 4, 2012 3:55:12 PM UTC-4, stevo wrote:

It may be that speakers of languages with a strong future time reference (e.g., English, Italian, Russian) have better lives economically than speakers of languages with weak future time reference (e.g., Chinese, German). 

I think that's the opposite of what the study said. The study says that languages with weak future time reference have the better economic tendencies. 

 

A language designed without a mandatory tense marker (in particular, for the future tense), e.g., Lojban, might be better for its speakers than having an obligatory future tense marker, e.g., Esperanto. 

^ And your conclusion appears to be based on the weak future time reference being better (which is what the study says). Basically the study proposes that when your language leads you to treat the present and the future the same way grammatically, you're more likely to care about the future (have an easier time saving money, studying for exams, not overeating, quitting smoking -- those are four examples the presenter mentions).

[Krzysztof Sobolewski]

And if someone's interested, there's more on Language Log:
http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=3756
http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=3792

Myself, I'm sceptical. But I'm not an expert ;)
--
Ecce Jezuch
"Silence has a definition, vocabulary of muted diction
Precise thought to miscomprehend, ambiguity in high resolution
Articulate expletive fiction open to misinterpretation - so precise"
- J. Walker

[MorphemeAddict]

On Wed, Apr 4, 2012 at 4:33 PM, vruxir <kex...@gmail.com> wrote:

On Wednesday, April 4, 2012 3:55:12 PM UTC-4, stevo wrote:

It may be that speakers of languages with a strong future time reference (e.g., English, Italian, Russian) have better lives economically than speakers of languages with weak future time reference (e.g., Chinese, German). 

Oops. My bad. You're right. 

stevo 

I think that's the opposite of what the study said. The study says that languages with weak future time reference have the better economic tendencies. 

 

A language designed without a mandatory tense marker (in particular, for the future tense), e.g., Lojban, might be better for its speakers than having an obligatory future tense marker, e.g., Esperanto. 

^ And your conclusion appears to be based on the weak future time reference being better (which is what the study says). Basically the study proposes that when your language leads you to treat the present and the future the same way grammatically, you're more likely to care about the future (have an easier time saving money, studying for exams, not overeating, quitting smoking -- those are four examples the presenter mentions).

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[tijlan]

Seems relevant to what I suggested could be a role of Lojbanesque
languages in the resource-based economy.

mu'o