Does language play roles of equal importance in different areas of knowledge?

by lastlullabyy (student)

International Baccalaureate Theory of Knowledge

Does language plays roles of equal importance in different areas of knowledge?

We are able to distinguish four most well-known ways to acquire knowledge. It is either through the reasoning, perception, emotions or language. All the areas are important in the unique way. However, we would not be able to acquire any knowledge and pass it without the use of language. We would not know emotions of other people or even our own due to the fact that we would not how to define them. Besides, the ability of reasoning would be narrowed drastically.

In different sources we can find many definitions for the word “language” and all of them vary a bit but the main point is that language, spoken or written, is a mean of communication. It is a unique feature for humans as only animals who can make use of such complex means communication. Our ancestors used a intercommunication consisted of limited vocal sounds which were dependent on environmental stimulus. Nowadays, the language evolved and transformed in a genious tool that allows people to exchange their ideas, express their feelings, fears and dreams and also to discuss the everyday life matters. It gives us, human beings, the ability to be the independent and open-minded by broadening the horizons of our minds.

In this essay I will show that the language does play roles of equal importance in different areas of knowing, especially in History, Natural Sciences and Mathematics.

This is a preview of the whole essay

In this essay I will show that the language does play roles of equal importance in different areas of knowing, especially in History, Natural Sciences and Mathematics.

First area of knowledge which I want to discuss is History. As we all know, History is one of the area of knowledge that is based heavily on written sources. Without these sources we will not be able to gain any information about past events such as the Roman Empire established and its collapse, the war with the Teutonic Order and important battles like this on the 15th of July 1410. Someone had to share his or her knowledge about all these events and somehow pass it from generation to generation. Thanks to all records, diaries, letters etc that are available we are able to picture the past in our mind, discuss it and share our ideas with different people. Since history is our legacy I cannot imagine to live in a world about which I do not know anything. Who do not want to explore his own origin? It is a natural thing to do. Language gives the history a base for what it truly is – the fundament of ourselves.

Another area of knowledge that I want to mention in my essay is Natural Sciences. Language plays a passive role in the communication of scientific ideas among scientists around the world. It allows information to be passed in an economical, clear way. Also, the language is crucial when it comes to not losing discoveries which have already been made like for instance creating a periodic table by Dimitri Mendeleev. This table represents the symbols which stand for different elements and are recognized worldwide. Even though the scientists or even students can describe the particular substance or chemical with the use of their own language, they would write it by a symbol. Also, for all experiments carried out by scientists from different fields of knowledge it would be an impossible task to formulate the hypothesis, research question, procedure, conclusion and evaluation in order to test desired variables without using a language. In Physics we also use the symbols, equations with a connection to natural language. For example, the formula for calculating the velocity is v = s/t. It is a far easier way to write the equation for this than to say “the velocity is directly proportional to distance and inversely proportional to time”.1

The last area of knowledge is Mathematics. The language which we use in Mathematics is complex and universal, consisted of numbers and symbols. It does not have any rules which would vary from country to country and it remains the same around the world. It has been proved that a student who moved from different country would have significantly different marks at the new school besides those from Maths. In fact it is one of Mathematics greatest advantage over natural language. This universality and simplicity makes the communication more efficient than when using spoken language. As K.C. Cole wrote in her book2, “numbers can do things that things cannot.” Moreover, the Mathematics is well defined and straight without useless abstract meanings. Some people claim that it cannot be count as a language on its own. It is true that you will not find a person who speaks using mathematical equations which is somehow a proof that although excellent, the language of Mathematics is rather technical and has its limits. In my opinion it is surely a language but cannot function without natural language.

All in all, there are no doubts that the language plays roles of importance in different areas of knowing. However, I am not completely sure if it is right to mention this “equal” here. As we can conclude from the discussion above, the importance of the language varies from one area to another. It also depends on whether we are talking about just one type of language, spoken, written etc. When it comes to History, spoken and written language is absolutely crucial to even just make the existence of this particular area of knowledge. In Natural Science we need both natural language as well as scientific one in order to understand the laws of nature and the world surrounding us. Mathematics gives as a possibility to discover the reality in the extraordinary way by using symbols and numbers when we want to explain mechanism of some actions etc. It also enables us to communicate with people around the world without language boundaries which are so common in different aspects of knowledge.

“The limits of my language stand for the limits of my world”3 this quotation by Ludwig Wittgenstein represents the main function of language perfectly. We need language, no matter in which area of knowledge. It is the essence of our life, the way to express ourselves.

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