That idea can and does also refer to an overall way of being in and responding to one’s world, which has been an important topic in philosophy and linguistics since Benjamin Lee Whorf, who along with his teacher Edward Sapir developed what has come to be known as the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis of linguistic relativity.  Stated simply the thesis is that the way human beings perceive and describe the world in which they live is a function of the structure of the native language(s) they acquire to describe and interact with it.  In Whorf’s words,  