How do the words we use to describe an idea affect our understanding of the world?

I think that it does affect our understanding of the world, because its the way that we interpret things that really matter.
People can put a negative or positive connotation on any sentence that they speak, and as a result, people may think of the subject as negative or positive. A good quote to represent this is "Is the glass half empty or half full?" Depending on people's answer to this question we can see if they have a positive view on life or a negative one

Tirajeh makes a good point on the connotations of a word. In my opinion the central purpose of different words is to be interpreted by the individual. What other reason would we have a thesaurus for? And what about those moments when you are saying something and you just can't find the right word? It has to fit exactly into what you're thinking or it doesn't 'work'.

<sub>People take in ideas differently, just like how people need different learning habits to understand concepts introduced in class. We will never be able to fully understand each other because we will not be able to find the exact words to describe a certain feeling. If there were words for every feeling that every person in the world felt at certain times, there would probably be a book that could stretch across the entire diameter of the Earth or even further. Also, there are the different words in different languages that cannot be directly translated into another.

The word "westernization" was used to describe Western Europe when it was first introduced. The idea of us using this term means that we have been manipulated by the Europeans and we think in a European manner. This is because Canadian culture had been for the most part based off of British culture. This is where all the British terms we use are derived from. However, if a different cultural group were to have discovered Canada instead of the Europeans, we would be an entirely different culture altogether.</sub>

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What I think this question is really referring to are the connotations of a word. The example given of 'globalization' vs ' westernizing' is a very good example. Globalization implies a ' we're all in this together' attitude carries with it positive connotations of a world that is united. However; westernizing implies a western, paternalistic view point and a ' we know best' attitude. This shows not that the world is in it as one, but the West are dominating and trying to make others conform to their point of view. Dubbing this phenomena one word or the other changes people's opinions on whether it is positive or not and therefore changes their outlook on the events currently going on in our world.

I think one of the reasons why the words have affect our understanding of the word is because of the way how even if the words are synonyms, difference words can have negative, and positive meanings. Like the word energized would have a positive connotation, whereas the word hyper could have a negative connotation.
Even though it is eventually up to our interpretation to 'take in' what the words are describing, I think the choice of words we use when we choose to pass on a idea have undeniable impact on understanding of people's ideas.

I completely agree with what everyone has said. And just to add on the Nicole's point (I think), that in this way language is sort of limiting because I personally, have many moments where I had no words to describe what I am thinking. In this case I sometimes even make up my own words.. but I never feel like it is the right fit. I believe that not only would that dictionary be longer than the diameter of the earth, but that it would be infinite. I assume that every second many new people are being born who will grow up with extremely different lives and every second everyone is experiencing unique situations. Therefore; with all the infinite possibilities for feeling how can we have a limited amount of words to describe them? Language will never be sufficient to express everyone's feelings so we settle for the words we have in English (or whatever you native tongue is). And even if we made this infinite dictionary, every word would have different connotations because it is like learning something new at school- personally I learn things sometimes by relating them to other things I know, and because what each individual knows and believes in and has experienced and likes and hates.. (etc), what we think of each world will be different, how the word will be used will be different, so one world will never be communally understood to its full extent.

I disagree that globalization is another term for westerization.

To me, globalization is learning about the world as a whole. How people and cultures interact with each other and learning about your fellow human beings. Its about feeling empathy for those you do not know, and understanding the local area around you better by seeing it in a larger context. I guess there are different types of globalization, such as for a person and for a country and its government. Here are two definitions:

1) a phenomenon by which the experience of everyday life, as influenced by the diffusion of commodities and ideas, reflects a standardization of cultural expressions around the world

2) growth to a global or worldwide scale; "the globalization of the communication industry

I think all together it is to make something global in scope and sight.

Westernization is about democracy, economies and corporations, and technology. Here is a definition:

1)process whereby societies come under or adopt the Western culture in such matters as industry, technology, law, politics, economics, lifestyle, diet, language, alphabet, religion, philosophy, or values

Mind you, these definitions and my opinions are from western technology and knowledge. How would someone in another country feel about globalization and westernization? They may fear it.

Reading the question more carefully i have another question. What is the difference of perception and understanding. in my opinion Ideas, and the way they are said and interpreted only affects our perception on the world, our biased view upon everything. i assume it is near impossible to understand the world with just a flurry of ideas.
Cheers

It was to my understanding that Westernization was a part of Globalization, not a synonym. Globalization I think is often mixed with Westernization because Westernization is about Globalization. The term "The Western World" is often used along with Democracy, Free trade, but not as much with Capitalism which it truly is.The only reason we think Westernization and Globalization are linked, is because westernization is about making money, and westernizing the rest of the world means more consumers for Western "Fads" and goods. The reason why the world is Westernizing, is because the western world is putting the most money and time into doing so.

Now to the normal question:

I believe the best way to determine a word's effect on our understanding is in a conversation, person to person. As Arthur said before, just because a word in the dictionary has a negative connotation, it doesn't mean it is one. You could swear at someone and it could be complementing because of friendly envy, or to describe or exaggerate a compliment. I dont think words affect our understanding, but we make words to make people understand.

This question is very interesting. I acutally went to encyclopedia and found out that the meaning of anti globalization is
"opposition to the agendas and actions of groups perceived to favor globalization, such as the IMF, the World Trade Organization, and the G8 countries." I think that whatever word we use do matter no matter how equal the situation may be. As tirajeh mentionned above, "is cup half full, or half empty" is an excellent example. However, I do not think that through words, one can not only express being positive or negative, but also emotions and feeling toward others. For example, by adding the word "only" it could give feeling to others that "you could do better than this", "I am quite disappointed about this", or "I do not believe you did try your best" Language is an interesting element, just by giving hints, it could give really powerful impression and feeling and even though one "say out loud" it could give only minimal effect

The fact that so many people perceive the words to be unsynonomous and give each a different meaning really shows the power of connotation. Because in actuality we see that world leaders and intellectuals use such words interchangeably implying that they really are two sides of the same coin? This is mostly just my opinion based on that of others but I do feel like westernization is in many ways synonomous with globalization. For example, the examples that Francis gave were all organizations based out of 'westernized' countries. Another synonym along with globalization and westernization is the nickname' mcworld' which explains our cultures are being wiped out to be replaced by one homologous and very 'west' culture (Mc - standing for mcdonalds)

Although the 'idealistic' meaning of globalization might be we all 'learn' about other cultures and are accepting etc.. the PRACTICAL application is very different and is somewhat synonymous with Westernization. (This is my opinion/ assumption)

I agree woth louises points and that westernization is not the same as globalization. I would like to go from a different approach, using a different "idea". I am looking at a very obvious example: the idea of happiness and how the word has different definitions for different people. I assume that for some people, happiness is good whealth and social status. Again assuming, others would argue that these factors may or may not lead to happiness but happiness itself is something else. So when you hear somebody say the word "happiness", you should not assume that the person's understanding of the word is the same as yours. It would make more sense to look at the individual and their values and beliefs and to draw a conclusion about what "happiness" means to them from that. I think that the same goes for all words that decribe an idea.

I like how T.I.P interpret the term Westernization, and I also agree that westernized and globalization have very much the similar meaning. The way we say it differently shows us how much connotations in language have effects on our ideas. I think the example of westernazed and globalnization is similar to the idea we taks about on gender. Even though we recognize the language anyway, different connotation show us the attitude we have toward different areas. Not only the words we use effect our understanding of the world, but also they shows our interpretion of the world.

In response for the original question:
I usually createmy own definitions for words that I learn, and I expect others to do the same. When something is given a name, it is eternal and chances are that people will always refer to it with this name. Whether many words are used to demonstrate a concept or just one, it has the same effect. This can lead to misunderstanding though, because everyone has a different understanding of the word (as Julika and I'm sure many others mentioned). Our understanding of the world is warped because of this, especially when two different cultures are involved (I say this because, from my experience, different cultures can have extremely different interpretations of certain descriptive words).
I am going to use a very simple exampl to support my response. The sentence "She is very admirable"understood in almost opposite ways in these two different cultures. A poor person living in South Africa (in the slums) would immediately think of a large woman with many children. This is because being large (in our culture this would be called "overweight") is seen as being wealthy, because it signifies that she can afford food. Having many children also signifies wealth in this culture. Now, coming to the Canadian interpretation of this word, it probably means a slim, pretty woman who is either young or middle aged, has a husband and has recieved education. In the case of her being middle aged, a couple of children would be added.
See how extremely dissimilar these two interpretations are!!

I would have to agree with both Julika and Lousie for this question. I think that globalization is completely different yet some countries are trying to "westernize" themselves. Not all countries want to be categorized is being "western" as it can offend them but others do. According to my webster dectionary, the definition of globalization is "to make global or worldwide in scope or application". The definition of westernization could be the influence of ideas, customs and practices from the west. Globalizing something could be anything from the awareness of global warming or just a random movie that was a big deal. Westernization has not yet attracted people from all over the globe but if it does, that is when westernizing something could be called westernization. I also feel that until then, westernization should not be used since it doesn't exactly have the right context.