Lera Boroditsky
Cognitive Scientist | How Language Shapes Thought
About
Lera Boroditsky is a leading cognitive scientist who explores how the languages we speak shape the way we think. An Associate Professor of Cognitive Science at UCSD, her influential research has been featured in The New York Times, The Economist, and NPR's Hidden Brain.
Boroditsky's TED talks have reached millions, revealing thought-provoking insights on the relationship between language, culture, and human perception. Her keynotes provide audiences with a new understanding of how the mind works and how language influences decision-making, problem-solving, and creativity.
Talks1
How language shapes the way we think
There are about 7,000 languages spoken around the world -- and they all have different sounds, vocabularies and structures. But do they shape the way we think? Cognitive scientist Lera Boroditsky shares examples of language -- from an Aboriginal community in Australia that uses cardinal directions instead of left and right to the multiple words for blue in Russian -- that suggest the answer is a resounding yes. "The beauty of linguistic diversity is that it reveals to us just how ingenious and how flexible the human mind is," Boroditsky says. "Human minds have invented not one cognitive universe, but 7,000."
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