Response to: "Are Our Thoughts Constrained By Language?" (Stephen Pinker)

 

I found this piece very interesting because the topic that Mishlove and Pinker are discussing is something that I have often thought about. I agree with Pinker; that people don't think in words or language. I myself  am not sure how to go about explaining it, because it is something I just understand in my head, but I think that Pinker does a very adequate job of demonstrating it.

 

I find it truly fascinating to think about language and how well it works and also how evolved it has become. I try to imagine how words started out and what the first sentence spoken was like.   It frustrates because there really is no way for me to imagine it. The history of language, where and when it  started  is something I'd definitely like to find more about.

 

When I think about babies, I see that even though they are not thinking in words, on some level they are thinking; they might prefer the peas to the carrots or the blue toy to the red one; many cry when their mom leaves or other times they feel insecure. I think that they have sense of what is going on, but are just not yet developed enough to communicate in words. Toddlers who have just started to speak often have trouble communicating exactly what they mean; they often leave out particular word groups or use the wrong tense, but they know what they are trying to say and usually more practiced speakers can make out the general idea.

 

There has to be more to thinking than words. I don't think the first homo sapiens all of a sudden just had words; I don't think words and language were a built in part of the brain. Pre-historic humans must have had thoughts and some how over timed learned how to communicate all these things they had floating in their head. It seems to me like it would be a natural evolution because the human brain is very complex and it eventually would be necessary for there to be an output of some sort. Humans are social creatures, with or without words, and we need each other on so many different aspects. Language somehow seems to have been an unavoidable transition.(I don't claim know for sure anything I'm talking about; I haven't researched evidence, just feelings I have in the moment)

 

When Pinker was going on about language less deaf people, Helen Keller popped into my mind. Helen Keller is someone who has baffled my mind. How far she came without sight or sound is miraculous to me. Obviously, she couldn't think with words, but still she could learn and she could still think , I think, that proves that there is more to thinking than words.

I agree with Pinker that "menatalese" is affected to a certain extent by language. I think, though, every aspect of our mind is interconnected with the rest.

 

Okay, anyway, this article has helped me to explore further, things I have often contemplated in the past .The whole process of thought and language astonishes me a great deal. I believe I could think about it forever and still be as mystified by it. It is one thing to have thoughts and another to have language, but to know that we have an unlimited, unbarred and probably mostly unchartered claim on both is amazing.