I picked this video to post because it focuses on what I find really fascinating about language: it's evolution. It talks specifically about how language changes humans as a species.
This is a long video but it sure is interesting! (Twenty minutes is about ten minutes more than I expect anyone to sit through, so I understand if you want to jump through it.)
Again, I chose this video because it focuses on what I find so fascinating about language: how did it first come about, and how has it changed our lives as humans? I really wish it were possible to know what the first word ever spoken was.
I think Mark has a very valid point. We reached a point in human evolution where we needed a standard for communication. Language is then born.
If the video hadn't been so long, I would have looked for the video of closest relation and just kept going! I think I'm going to be posting plenty of videos from TED Talks.
Language not only affects the world, it is the world in a sense. Can you understand something you can't communicate? I say no. So language is our world in the sense that everything understandable for us is within the sphere of our language.
