Have you ever heard of the Sapir-Whorf theory? I studied it years ago when I was working on my degree at the University of New Mexico. Political and sociological theories were cool to me. Theories about linguistics were bizarre and harder to understand. The Sapir Whorf theory was different though; this linguistic theory fascinated me. My fascination was in part because the professor explained it to the class in a manner we could all understand and relate to. He talked about the Eskimos, snow and automobiles. From Wikipedia:
Put simply, the hypothesis argues that the nature of a particular language influences the habitual thought of its speakers. Different patterns of language yield different patterns of thought. This idea challenges the possibility of representing the world perfectly with language, because it acknowledges that the mechanisms of any language affect its users. The hypothesis emerged in many formulations, some weak and some strong.
We spoke of the Eskimos and how many words they have in their language for "snow." Snow is an important and integral part of their lives. Americans, on the other hand, have so many words for "car." Cars are an integral part of our lives so we have many ways to talk about them. Eskimos don't have many words to describe a car, if they have any at all. Does our language influence our culture or does our culture influence our language?
Where am I going with this?
I had a fabulous lunch with a friend of mine last week. She is an explorer. She doesn't wear funky fur mukluks or travel by dog sled. She is actually a graphic designer who has made the choice to travel. Really travel ...almost like an embedded reporter does when they hang with a platoon during a war. I'll call it trench traveling. Between bites of East Indian fare, we talked about cars and the American fascination with them. She was fascinated with the way that Europeans move; how they get to work. We talked about how our lives are so different from that of other folks who live in other countries. Europeans don't typically travel by car. They have extensive public transportation systems that move them to work and them move them home. Gas has been so high in Europe for so long that scooters and Vespas have taken the place of large numbers of automobiles. Because the Europeans ride the metro to work they have time to read, talk with the person sitting next to them on the subway, sleep or just people watch. Americans don't often do this unless they live in a large city like San Francisco, New York or Washington DC. My friend and I live in New Mexico. Without a car we wouldn't be able to move many places. We don't have the elaborate public transportation systems others have. We are missing out on the human connection that goes with riding a subway, train or bus. We are missing out on the time when we could be learning something new by reading a good book or reflecting on our day because we are consumed with getting to our destination fast and in our cars. Most of us drive by ourselves during the day which leaves us time to sing along with the pre-programmed radio station we are listening to...at best.
Cars are status to most Americans. Recently I was asked a question by a woman about which car I would prefer if I could have any at all. I told her I would prefer "not to have a car." She was blown away by my response. I personally don't care for cars. They aren't novel to me. Because I have to have a car I drive one that fits my budget. I am more interested in gas mileage, its affect on the environment, and the car's engineering than in how fast the car goes or how many gadgets it has. When I travel to a large American city or to Europe I love to ride the subway. I love being with all of those people. I love the ride.
I think I know what my friend was talking about.