A thought on thought

[sinkoman]

I've always found it insanely intriguing how when people think, they don't just think in some universal and ineffable tongue, they think in a speakable human language of some sort.

I've been thinking, if it were not for language, would human thought be anywhere near as complex and intricate as it its now? Is affable language the reason why humans have come so far?

And when one is capable of speaking in multiple tongues, which does one "think" in?

 

[Danimal]

For a second there, I had an idea that language would be the final step to sentient thinking?

Nah.

 

[wildchild730]

When I think, I dont really think using any sort of language, I usually just like.. Think of what I'm thinking about.. I don't know if that makes any sense but yeah.

 

[Asus]

I use both images and language when thinking. Use images more when thinking places to go and language when thinking of a list of things to do. But it would be weird thinking all the time without using words.

 

[Smoke]

Wierd, I was thinking the same thing as the Op.

 

[15357]

I use both English, Korean, and images while thinking. Weird.

 

[Shift]

Well yeha we have images, but i guess the learning of a language complicates thoughts.

 

[Asus]

Can you think about a memory without describing it in language? How hard is that. It's a silent film. ha

I use both English, Korean, and images while thinking. Weird.

So when do you use English vs Korean?

 

[Sloth]

Well, I know its a stage in the learning of another tounge - when you begin to think or dream in that tounge...

 

[Shift]

I suppose thinking without a language is just like dreaming, but 99.9% less random and ****ed up.

 

[15357]

Can you think about a memory without describing it in language? How hard is that. It's a silent film. ha

So when do you use English vs Korean?

I've never really thought about it.... Hmm. I think I use english for things that are linked to the west and stuff, and vice versa.

 

[Jintor]

I think in binary.

I mean english.

Actually, it depends what I'm doing. During a 'creative process' - that is, storytelling - i think in all 5 senses, in the languages i wish, in the colour and style i choose. But unconsciously I think in english.

 

[Dan]

I don't use words when I'm thinking unless I'm thinking about talking to someone else. Usually I think in hypothetical situations, like chess sorta.

 

[Baal]

I guess I never really thought about it before, but I like to think we use concepts to gather our thoughts.

I am thinking about what time I should leave from work in order to reach my night job in time. The concepts of time and distance allow me to make the correct decision that will lead to the result I desire.

I don't know where I'm going with this. Anyone wanna take it from here?

 

[-Psy-]

I've thought about this several times.

When you learn a language that becomes your primary language, your think with that language.

If your were to learn a secondary language for years, you would still think in your primary language.

 

[Ren.182]

I suppose it makes it easier for us to understand what we're thinking about. Probably makes it more likely that you'll remember what you're thinking about too if you wanted to.

I use both images and language also. I bet everyone does. Unless you've been deaf rom birth then you wouldnt really "talk" in English in your head or whatever.

 

[CyberPitz]

I use both English, Korean, and images while thinking. Weird.

When somebody talks to you, do you translate it in your head to Korean first, then process it?

 

[Dan]

Basically what you are asking is what is the medium of thought. It's been written about for centuries if not more.

 

[mindless_moder]

I don't use words when I'm thinking unless I'm thinking about talking to someone else. Usually I think in hypothetical situations, like chess sorta.

I've always thought about thinking like that.

 

[Kyorisu]

I've never really thought about it.... Hmm. I think I use english for things that are linked to the west and stuff, and vice versa.

I can think/speak in fluent Japanese/English and tend to find myself swapping between the two when one becomes easier to use.

 

[Taboo]

I had a friend that spoke 4 languages fluently once. I asked her what language she dreamed in and she said it depends.

I think it has more to do with what you are thinking about, and how that particular thought relates to language. But this is, for the most part, beside the point.

Communication (through language) was inevitable through evolution. It is necessary not only for the individual but for the community. All animals communicate by some means. Look something up on the dance of the honey bee, its really very interesting. Honey bees very precisely communicate where flowers are by dance to the hive. And then you have things like bacteria that are presumed to think on some kind of level because of their intelligent actions but seemingly have no language. Ah, I think Im away from the point again. Screw it, Ill make my own point.

I think the process of thinking is more interesting. You can go to classes and read books that can revolutionize your way of thinking. People do it all the time to come up with quick solutions for timed tests like the SAT and College exit level exams and such. You can also do it to encourage creative thought and the like. A single analogy or example can just bring everything into a new perspective, like the nekker cube example Dawkins used in the Selfish Gene. I just think the ability to revolutionize the way you think is amazing.

 

[Marinmald]

ok, thought is a very tricky thing and i probably shouldn't be trying to make sense when i am this tired, but what the hay. you can think without words, this can be done via images, feeling, motion, what have you. as for thinking with words, one generally thinks with their native tongue, altho you can think in another tongue, but you wouldn't know if it was gibberish or an actual language that you picked up unconsciously. unless of course you know that language in which case you can think in that as well just fine, you could even hold conversations with yourself if you wanted pretending that its another person. switching languages while thinking isn't a problem at all, it is alot like switching from cursive to print while writing, you can do it unconsiously or on purpose. take for instance (a little off topic) in school I knew this girl that spoke both english and spanish, and when she talked, her speech would constantly switch back and forth without her realizing it. now when an individual is under great stress or is suffering from some kind of trauma, peopel have a tendency to default to their native tongue. generally it requires a little more effort to work in a non-native tongue. if this made sense, congrates, if it didn't, post something and i'll get back in about 10 hours. it be sleepz tim naow kthx zzzzzzzzzzzzz.

 

[Jintor]

I've thought about this several times.

When you learn a language that becomes your primary language, your think with that language.

If your were to learn a secondary language for years, you would still think in your primary language.

Well, I was fluent in Cantonese for years, and I probably thought in it. But nowdays I think in English (which I only learnt from 5 years of age onwards).

 

[15357]

When somebody talks to you, do you translate it in your head to Korean first, then process it?

No, they get seperated. Otherwise I wouldn't be able to talk at all.

 

[Unfocused]

Hard to tell really, I think it's a mix of thinking with words and thinking without using them.

As for processing what someone says in English, with my current knowledge of this language, I don't need to do that. That's one of the reasons why I'm not good at translating something from English to my mothertongue, cause when someone says something in English, I don't translate it in my mind, I simply KNOW what he's saying.

 

[Sulkdodds]

Language affects and shapes the way we think because language affects and shapes our perception of the world. In so many ways, discourse is thought.

 

[Operational]

I asked my Japanese teacher when I was in high school and he said he could think in both English and Japanese. It was pretty much arbitrary which one he chose.