reply to post by anonentity
Being a self aware entity it seems internalising comes with the territory, and is necessary for solving problems. So is language required for
thinking, or just needed to transfer said thoughts to another person.?
That's a VERY interesting question.
I think it's a yes and no. Yes, we have to have some sort of internal dialogue to figure something out. We don't have to have agreed upon words, or
even the same words every time for things though. I think before language developed we went off of feelings. So picking up a pinecone felt a certain
way, and so did throwing something. So in a way throwing a pinecone (weird ass example, I don't know why either) was a number of feelings, which you
could call language. Prickly, round, arm back, fist closed, open fist while arm moves. Those are all feelings, but they don't need a name, just a
simple awareness and memory.
I think higher thinking animals think with a sort of internal dialogue and don't just associate two things, which is presumably how we learned to use
tools. So for an animal meat = food. To get meat attack that and it = food. For a person, meat = food, food = dead thing, pointy stick makes food
dead. Let's call it something in our head to remember. OK yeah, for higher thinking I think an inner dialogue is necessary. I don't think a fish is
thinking.
Some animals are capable of higher thought, like using tools to manipulate their environment, but I think most aren't even near our level. Some are.
Apes, monkeys, dolphins, elephants, crows (other species of birds) and octopi are able to improvise and use tools. I don't think they have the same
kind of inner monologue humans do, but they seem to be able to reason and not just react to impulses.
I'm having a very hard time getting across what I want to get across. I like your question OP. I hope more people chime in. I'm going to think on
it with my annoying inner voice that I am now painfully aware of.
Edit To Add that I don't believe you meant language in a strictly communicative way. Yes, to communicate we need some sort of language. I read the
first response and don't think that was what you were going for OP. I thought were asking if we need to have language constructs to be able to think.
So what would happen if you left a human baby isolated for the first 10 years with no interaction. How would that child think. We probably will
never know. It's like trying to describe to a blind person what you see.
edit on 0920140220141 by Domo1 because: (no reason given)