> Follow-up question: Is language necessary for thought? Try forming thoughts without forming any words in your head. For three years at University, I studied

> Follow-up question: Is language necessary for thought? Try forming thoughts without forming any words in your head. For three years at University, I studied American sign language (ASL). It changed how I thought. There's a spectrum of how people sign, from straight transliteration of English words to signs, to the other 'pure' side where ASL has a very different grammar and way of communicating. The school I went to taught the 'pure ASL' side, figuring we already know English grammar. When signing, my internal voice was much quieter, or if I did hear it, it was using far fewer words and more ideas. Thinking felt different to me. After I graduated, I moved cities and have rarely needed to sign much since then. But I still sometimes dream in it, strange as that sounds.