3 ms·

Who says that human 'thought' necessarily requires inner speech?

drdeca 11y ago
I think I agree with you. The inability to think of a word , I think, is evidence that not all thought requires words. But maybe that isn't entirely conclusive.
ddingus 11y ago
It clearly doesn't. Many people think in terms of pictures or symbols they have internalized to represent their world. Animals do this too. They plan, and socialize, etc... Heck, cows have been demonstrated to have besties!
ddingus 11y ago
I am just going to share this: My daughter collected plushie toys, which the cat liked to take and shread. One day, she had enough. The cat took one too many and she raged! I watched as the two of them went from room to room. The cat totally understood she meant to do it some harm. And it knew why too. I'll avoid too much detail, but the end game was in her room. Door closed, her and the cat matched up. She would go over the bed, cat under, she would go one side, the cat the other... perfect zero sum game, and it ended with her on the bed, the cat on the other end, both eye locked, intent! She had that torn plushie, yelling, the cat watching intently, tail moving slowly... Truth is, at her age, she could not actually get that cat, and he knew it. When they both arrived at that realization, there was "the talk" as described. That cat never took another plushie, and they bonded closely over the next few months, having come to a basic understanding, I'll add as beings, people. Of course, I observed this all with great interest and would have put a stop to any real harm, but for those two, it was as real as it gets! She was maybe 7, the cat 2 or three. In terms of basic intelligence, factoring out higher order language and other human capabilities, they were pretty well matched. The cat could totally read her, and she the cat. They both were planning, reading the other and responding. This was one of the more interesting animal, human interactions I've ever seen. She was vocalizing and gesturing with that plushie. The cat was also vocalizing and using body language, its face and tail to carry out its end of the argument. She later reported to me the result. The cat knows which plushies are OK. She would designate one or two, and the cat would not mess with the favorites.

I think I agree with you. The inability to think of a word , I think, is evidence that not all thought requires words. But maybe that isn't entirely conclusive.

ddingus 11y ago

It clearly doesn't. Many people think in terms of pictures or symbols they have internalized to represent their world. Animals do this too. They plan, and socialize, etc... Heck, cows have been demonstrated to have besties!

ddingus 11y ago

I am just going to share this: My daughter collected plushie toys, which the cat liked to take and shread. One day, she had enough. The cat took one too many and she raged! I watched as the two of them went from room to room. The cat totally understood she meant to do it some harm. And it knew why too. I'll avoid too much detail, but the end game was in her room. Door closed, her and the cat matched up. She would go over the bed, cat under, she would go one side, the cat the other... perfect zero sum game, and it ended with her on the bed, the cat on the other end, both eye locked, intent! She had that torn plushie, yelling, the cat watching intently, tail moving slowly... Truth is, at her age, she could not actually get that cat, and he knew it. When they both arrived at that realization, there was "the talk" as described. That cat never took another plushie, and they bonded closely over the next few months, having come to a basic understanding, I'll add as beings, people. Of course, I observed this all with great interest and would have put a stop to any real harm, but for those two, it was as real as it gets! She was maybe 7, the cat 2 or three. In terms of basic intelligence, factoring out higher order language and other human capabilities, they were pretty well matched. The cat could totally read her, and she the cat. They both were planning, reading the other and responding. This was one of the more interesting animal, human interactions I've ever seen. She was vocalizing and gesturing with that plushie. The cat was also vocalizing and using body language, its face and tail to carry out its end of the argument. She later reported to me the result. The cat knows which plushies are OK. She would designate one or two, and the cat would not mess with the favorites.