Speak as you think, but think how you speak!
Teaching module for senior secondary school students 7 March - 21 March 2023
The purpose of this module is to show how human language has established itself over the course of our species, how the mechanisms that link language and thought work, and how it is possible to develop self-defence systems against the distorted uses of language.
In collaboration with Nicola Grandi
Human beings: the talking animals
- Tuesday 7 March 2023 at 10:00 - 12:00
Thanks to language, humans have been able to develop culture like no other animal. Culture is a much faster and more powerful adaptive tool than biological evolution and has favoured the demographic boom that led Homo sapiens to colonise the whole Earth.
Languages, language and thought
- Tuesday 14 March 2023 at 10:00 - 12:00
Does each language show a different worldview? The link between language and thought has often led to the belief that speaking badly also means thinking badly and that, therefore, a poor linguistic competence is linked to a limited ability to think. During the lesson, this aspect will be critically discussed, with particular reference to an alleged crisis in the expressive abilities of young people. But is it really true that young people are worse at writing? But worse than who or worse than when? And does this presumption really affect their thinking skills?
Linguistic manipulations: self-defence strategies
- Tuesday 21 March 2023 at 10:00 - 12:00
Have you ever wondered why you choose one brand over another from a supermarket shelf? Or why, after a debate or a rally, did you choose to vote for someone over someone else? How did we convince ourselves that that brand was better than the others or that that candidate was more reliable than the others? Most likely what convinced us was a more effective use of the language that conditioned our way of thinking, directing our opinions.
