> Then that language itself, learned from outputs, becomes the cognitive apparatus that enables the child to imagine, to reason symbolically and abstractly. Hum

> Then that language itself, learned from outputs, becomes the cognitive apparatus that enables the child to imagine, to reason symbolically and abstractly. Humans bootstrap intelligence on top of language, which itself is learned by mimicking outputs. This isn't an uncommon claim, but it's certainly far from settled science. Complex language is an impressive capability of human cognition. But I think the claim that cognition itself is a byproduct of language proves too much. Obviously the products of cognition that are easiest for us to understand are linguistic, because language is the primary standardized means by which we communicate. To me, this is just more legibility bias, though. There are plenty of cognitive processes that people find impossible to explain in words, but still nonetheless exist