The Language of Thought

There are a few thought threads going around right now, one of them is a story told to me by an old lady and her son.

I have wondered about this for a long time and I am gonna ask you guys a question and see if you can help me answer it.

When anyone thinks, the thought process is heard in the head as whatever spoken language the individual uses. A multi-lingual person can think in several different languages, but it is always a spoken language that the thoughts are made up of.

If a person was never taught any language what would there thoughts be? How would they use the thought process, would it still occur in them like a spoken language, just one that no one has ever heard?

What is the basis of pure thought, thought that doesn't consist of spoken language?

Surely pure thought exists in a different form than learned language thought.

If we have a spirit and after we die we leave our body our mind of our previous life is said to be wiped out. If this is the case then how would our spirit be aware of it's surroundings? How would our thoughts be processed?

I certainly don't remember any time in my life that my thoughts weren't in English, though when I was a baby it is obvious that they weren't.

We look out into the physical world and have no spoken words for anything we see or do, how do we understand then? What are those thoughts and how do they work? How can we comprehend them or are we just ignorant to all the objects in the physical world that we haven't learned a name for?

This bugs me because I can't even imagine what the thoughts must be like. Even your motor thoughts are processed in your native language. Typing for example, when you type you speak the words in your head that you are typing, althought the thoughts to make your fingers move are not heard.

What's up with this?

reply to post by esteay812
I have thinked about this before, and this is very perplexing.
I have notice when dreaming I sometimes think in language I do not understand.
Also in my dreams it seem if my mind is stupid in some ways because it does not get things right all the time even something that would seem simple.
Something else I have thought about was universal language, like for pain or fear. Ouch, Ah!!

Thinked was joke I just did not want ot say thought, it's all about in with context of thread, what ever that means.

This is a good question, one that I too have thought about...

Obviously I have no idea... but maybe without language thoughts would be more of "hunger, thirst, tired, fear, anger, etc" Not in a language of course... but more along the lines of those feelings you get... when you feel hungry, not thinking you are hungry, you just... know.

It does seem any kind of critical thinking skills would be incomprehensible without a language to think them in.

About our consciousness, however, I'm sure there is something that we could not even fathom at work there. A pure knowing, instead of thinking.

reply to post by free2live


This is probably how the first language came to be. The thoughts roaming around in a persons head gave way for their names. Sound were probably assigned to certain objects. Eventually other members of the tribe began to pick these words up and before you know it, BAM, you have Webster's Dictionary.

Really though, this brings to mind the question about the first person who actually appeared to be human. Did they have language before or is it something they developed out of necessity to comprehend their thoughts?

It's like the hen or the egg, which came first? Thought or language, obviously thought, I just can't imagine what thought comprehension is (other than motor skills and the firing of synapses to relay info) without spoken language.

That's a good question. I think people who weren't taught languages would probably relate to the physical world more. It leads me to the question. I think that would only be possible in a civilization that hasn't been advanced. But, I don't know... would the civilization naturally make a language? I don't know... I'm sorry I'm not the best person to answer here.