Now that I've had coffee, I'd like to respond a little more to the post.
I find Van's argument that humans are hardwired to expand the tribe interesting and insufficient. It reminds me of the section on empathy in Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics in which he points out that people will empathize with their own inanimate objects. The example he gave was the driver who's just been rear-ended by another car who shouts "He hit me!" instead of "He hit my car!"
Also, tests have showed that people treat inanimate objects (like a computer) with consideration, just as if it was a person with its own thoughts and feelings.
Is it peculiar to English that we say both "my wife" and "my car" or do all languages express personal relationships the same way they express ownership?
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2006-07-11 02:38 pm (UTC)I find Van's argument that humans are hardwired to expand the tribe interesting and insufficient. It reminds me of the section on empathy in Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics in which he points out that people will empathize with their own inanimate objects. The example he gave was the driver who's just been rear-ended by another car who shouts "He hit me!" instead of "He hit my car!"
Also, tests have showed that people treat inanimate objects (like a computer) with consideration, just as if it was a person with its own thoughts and feelings.
Is it peculiar to English that we say both "my wife" and "my car" or do all languages express personal relationships the same way they express ownership?