How effective is guy deutscher in trying to persuade us that language can have a more
influence on a speaker's thoughts?
by establishing the far extremes - both of which are unconvincing - of a spectrum of opinions about
relative language complexity, deutscher clears a conceptual space for finding some value in the way that
language impacts cultural and conceptual experiences. he has only limited success when it comes to
making concrete conclusions, but his demonstrations of the practical differences of concept that are
revealed by different languages are much more successful. certainly, they are more compelling than the
illogical "all languages are equally complex" claim, that he asserts as a central dogma of linguistics, and
they are more acceptable (and frankly less racist) than the lazy stereotypes that claim primitive cultures
must necessarily use primitive language.