Recent research is showing that, in some areas of thought, when we don’t have a word for something it becomes invisible to us. So what is clear to people of one culture, who have a word for a thing, is obscure or nonexistent to another that does not. If a tree falls in the woods, and we don’t have a word for it . . . ? How about how you feel today emotionally? How much does that alter what you see? Turns out, a lot.
Short article here:
http://www.petapixel.com/2011/08/12/do-people-always-see-the-same-things-when…
(sorry, looks like the video has been removed. 11/11/11)
Via Metafilter