As my own fumbling attempts at learning Czech stagger onwards, I'm frequently in awe of Jitka's mastery of English. I sometimes asks her whether she thinks in English or Czech. Apparently her thoughts are done in English, with the exception of maths, which is done in Czech, which I think is interesting.
Even more interesting however is that thinking in a non-native tongue can help you from making mental blunders, at least according to new research on the subject.
For the past decade, behavioural economics has taught us why the so called rational man favoured by traditional economics is often way off the mark, with psychologists such as Daniel Kahneman telling us why psychological biases influence our decisions and choices.
These diversions from rationality are often instinctive, system 1 thinking to use Kahneman's terminology. They're made from the gut rather than from the head. A popular example of this is the Trolley Dilemma. The original dilemma involved a judge. A mob was demanding a scapegoat for a crime, and if they weren't given one they would extract revenge on a community of people. What should you do? Rational economic man suggests you should save the most people so give up a scapegoat, whether guilty or not. Most people however cannot hand over an innocent man, regardless of the consequences.
Here's the interesting thing. The research mentioned at the outset suggests that if you do your thinking in a non-native tongue, you're much more likely to choose the rational answer. They reason that where most cognitive bias involve emotional responses, understanding a second language is something that requires conscious thought, or system 2. Because we engage our brain to make sense of the question, it therefore makes our answer more rational.
“A foreign language is like a distancing mechanism,” says the researcher. “It’s almost like you’re a slightly different person. You’re removed from yourself.”
A similar outcome has been seen when you write the question in a difficult to read font. It does have some interesting connotations of course, as the gut is great for making some decisions, but rubbish at making others. If you can understand the two then you can perhaps employ your second language to become a better decision maker.
That makes a lot of sense. I wonder though, if Jitka (and others presumably) are thinking in a 2nd language whether they're not in fact thinking from the gut in the same way they do in their native tongue?