Precerpt from My 20th Language: Thick and Thin Boundaries: A Cultural Chameleon’s Paradox (Leaver)
Psychiatrist Ernest Hartmann introduced the concept of “boundaries in the mind” to describe how permeable or rigid the divisions are between different mental processes—between thoughts and feelings, self and other, waking and dreaming, and even between cultural identities. People with thin boundaries are often described as open, impressionable, emotionally fluid, and highly sensitive. They tend to absorb external stimuli easily, blur distinctions between fantasy and reality, and merge with others’ experiences. These traits are often linked to creativity, empathy, and—importantly—language acquisition. By contrast, thick boundaries are associated with structure, clarity, and compartmentalization. Thick-boundary individuals tend to maintain strong distinctions between self and other, prefer well-defined categories, and are less emotionally permeable. They may be less prone to spontaneous absorption of new linguistic or cultural cues, and more reliant on deliberate, ...