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You can't think if you don't speak. Babies don't "think" like adults do, rather they just follow instincts. Go ahead, try it. Think something but don't say it

You can't think if you don't speak. Babies don't "think" like adults do, rather they just follow instincts. Go ahead, try it. Think something but don't say it in your head.

Jensson 2y ago
> Go ahead, try it. Think something but don't say it in your head. I can think about how much food left I have in my fridge, then if I need more now, then formulating a plan to go to the store etc, all without any words ever being in my head. There is no "I have a gallon of milk" etc, instead I remember how much milk was left as images or events, and then going to the store etc is also similar events and images. There are no words, and I can't put those things into words I can only do bad translations of them, since my thought of going to the store also includes how I'll be tying my shoelaces and the path I'll take etc, imagining how much I have left includes the exact shape I last saw it in etc, translating that to words would take insane amount of words and still be very lossy. Unless I write or read or speak I don't hear any words in my mind. Only when directly interfacing with language in some way are the words there. Not when doing math problems or physics problems either etc, not when programming, those arne't languages, only when I write down rationalizations or comments etc do the words pop out.
pessimizer 2y ago
This is not at all true. You think this is true because this is how you think (or how you think you think.) Translating my thoughts into words has always taken an effort, even when I was a child, and I'm always surprised at how many words it takes to describe concepts or relationships that when I think them seem very simple. edit: also, I don't even know what you mean by "instinct(s)" here, or how you differentiate them from thoughts. Even language is an instinct. If you have entities that you are applying operations to in your head in order to create new entities, you're thinking.

You can't think if you don't speak. Babies don't "think" like adults do, rather they just follow instincts. Go ahead, try it. Think something but don't say it in your head.

Jensson 2y ago

> Go ahead, try it. Think something but don't say it in your head. I can think about how much food left I have in my fridge, then if I need more now, then formulating a plan to go to the store etc, all without any words ever being in my head. There is no "I have a gallon of milk" etc, instead I remember how much milk was left as images or events, and then going to the store etc is also similar events and images. There are no words, and I can't put those things into words I can only do bad translations of them, since my thought of going to the store also includes how I'll be tying my shoelaces and the path I'll take etc, imagining how much I have left includes the exact shape I last saw it in etc, translating that to words would take insane amount of words and still be very lossy. Unless I write or read or speak I don't hear any words in my mind. Only when directly interfacing with language in some way are the words there. Not when doing math problems or physics problems either etc, not when programming, those arne't languages, only when I write down rationalizations or comments etc do the words pop out.

pessimizer 2y ago

This is not at all true. You think this is true because this is how you think (or how you think you think.) Translating my thoughts into words has always taken an effort, even when I was a child, and I'm always surprised at how many words it takes to describe concepts or relationships that when I think them seem very simple. edit: also, I don't even know what you mean by "instinct(s)" here, or how you differentiate them from thoughts. Even language is an instinct. If you have entities that you are applying operations to in your head in order to create new entities, you're thinking.