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A language is just a system of symbols intended to represent objects and things. Any thinking creature must have some system of representing real objects with s

A language is just a system of symbols intended to represent objects and things. Any thinking creature must have some system of representing real objects with some abstraction in its brain. Language is only a question of scale. You can also think without words. You do that any time you visualize something. Imagine an apple floating in an empty black space. Just reading these words probably put that image in your head. Now turn the apple around, look at it from all sides, above and below. I can definitely give you directions on what to do, but I have no idea how to think that visualization in words.

leftyted 8y ago
> A language is just a system of symbols intended to represent objects and things. This isn't what I meant, or what is generally meant, by language. Humans are distinguished by our ability to generate and understand novel sentences. This isn't a question of scale -- it's not a question of the number of things we have names for. It's a question of the ability to create and understand sentences that have never been created before. No other animal does this, as far as we know. > You can also think without words. You do that any time you visualize something. I'm not sure I can visualize something without naming it or describing it.