But on the other hand, we expect human beings everywhere to have similar ways of experiencing the world. Linguists and other social scientists interested in universals have formulated theories to describe and explain human language and human language behavior in general terms as species-specific capacities of human beings. However, the idea that different languages may influence thinking in different ways has been present in many cultures and has given rise to many philosophical treatises. Because it is so difficult to pin down effects of a particular language on a particular thought pattern, this issue remains unresolved. It comes in and out of fashion and often evokes considerable energy in efforts to support or refute it.
Relativity is easy to demonstrate.
In order to speak any language, you have to pay attention to the meanings that are grammatically marked in that language. In Turkish, however, it is impossible to simply say, 'It rained last night'. This language, like many American Indian languages, has more than one past tense, depending on one's source of knowledge of the event. Differences of this sort have fascinated linguists and anthropologists for centuries. Such facts are grist for the mill of linguistic relativity.