I write on a site called www.750words.com, a private journal which is often therapeutic and sometimes frustrating. Last week, it made me ramble this way :
" ...Why do we think in words? Have we always thought in words? What did we do when we did not have language to help us out? Did we think in images? Or sounds? How do animals process their thoughts? Wow.. I have never thought of this.. My dog knows no language, yet he can think and understand that there is food on the table. How is this cognition happening in him? Interesting isn't it? How learning happens despite the lack of language? Is it instinct? Or abstract thought? But dogs express themselves too, through their growl.. their wagging tails... but how do they process information coming to them? Using what words? Like when I see a painting, I am awed, I say it is beautiful.. but the real feeling almost never comes out/ is never expressed.. what comes out are words. Since when have human beings been this way? How did we think as babies? Or is it just two basic things, like a cry for sadness and a smile for joy.. what about the other emotions? How did we express these as a baby? Hmm.. this is amazing.. how complex our thoughts are! Even the simplest one, like for example, I am feeling great... has no gestural support... a smile is just joy, where as great is something else! Something to think about..."
Let me know what your thoughts are, they might spring another post! :)
" ...Why do we think in words? Have we always thought in words? What did we do when we did not have language to help us out? Did we think in images? Or sounds? How do animals process their thoughts? Wow.. I have never thought of this.. My dog knows no language, yet he can think and understand that there is food on the table. How is this cognition happening in him? Interesting isn't it? How learning happens despite the lack of language? Is it instinct? Or abstract thought? But dogs express themselves too, through their growl.. their wagging tails... but how do they process information coming to them? Using what words? Like when I see a painting, I am awed, I say it is beautiful.. but the real feeling almost never comes out/ is never expressed.. what comes out are words. Since when have human beings been this way? How did we think as babies? Or is it just two basic things, like a cry for sadness and a smile for joy.. what about the other emotions? How did we express these as a baby? Hmm.. this is amazing.. how complex our thoughts are! Even the simplest one, like for example, I am feeling great... has no gestural support... a smile is just joy, where as great is something else! Something to think about..."
Let me know what your thoughts are, they might spring another post! :)
