What did Cavemen do before they developed language? How did they process the events of the day in their minds?
They would grunt, but what was going on in their mind? How were they giving thoughtful attention to the events that they were experiencing?
We need language to express our thoughts and communicate with one another. We use it in spoken and written form. But do we need it to think for ourselves? Let's review this.
There was a famous story about a boy who grew up with wolves and never learned a language. So, how did the thinking take place in his head? Did he think as we do?
If so, how? How did he put his thoughts into phrases? Was there a different way that he processed his thoughts?
How do we think about our everyday affairs? Did you ever have a feeling or thought without words?
Well, maybe with a few words but without fully formed sentences. For example, imagine you're thinking about going shopping for a new pair of shoes.
Just the concept is necessary to carry out the idea. You don't say to yourself, “I will go shopping for a pair of shoes.” Do you?
You may only consider the idea of “shoes,” and the additional idea “shop,” and that's all that is necessary.
Cavemen probably did the same thing, but even simpler than that, with no words, just imagining the concept in the thought process.
However, this is not a good example since Cavemen didn't have shoes or stores to go shopping. But you get the idea.
Thinking complex cognitive thoughts requires a certain level of language. That is what sets humans apart from other animals. We can analyze and interpret our environment, and we do this with words and sentences in a structured language.
However, with thoughts of our own feelings and emotions, it may be completely different. For example: Do you find yourself saying, "I feel happy," or do you feel the emotion without expressing it in words?
Language is essential for developing broad concepts and abstract thinking, which humans have evolved into doing. Spoken language provides a set of rules that helps us organize our thoughts and construct logical meaning.
However, basic thinking may not necessarily involve sentence structure in our minds. We still have some form of "inner voice" that we use to be self-aware of the world around us and apply our thinking to what we intend to do with that world.
How do autistic people who have no speech ability think? What thoughts are in their heads?
Considering the caveman analogy again, a time in our evolution when we didn't have a spoken language.
Cavemen had a connection with their world through their five senses. However, they didn't have a language to express their feelings to others about the things they observed.
So, how did they express their feelings in their minds just for the sake of being conscious of daily events?
Using their visual sense, they may have had an understanding of their world around them. But did they express thoughts about colors or think about how they're affected by odors? And if so, how?
What about music?
Isn't that a form of expression without language? You might say music is also a form of thinking. Surely, it's not with words.
But music does have tempo. It uses a mathematical structure. After all, it follows a beat. Music came about long before spoken language.
What about numbers?
The introduction of numbers into language came much later. When cavemen didn't yet have numbers, they could only think in limited numerical terms. Such as "one" or "many." Nothing in between.
There is still a tribe in Brazil, known as the Piraha Tribe, that has limited terms such as "few" and "many" in their language. So they couldn't think in terms of the number of items in a set.1
Thinking is limited to the extent that's possible with a particular language. Even if I propose the idea that one can think without words, I am also saying that language helps us think. Various languages are useful for different thought processes.
Many spoken languages are ambiguous. Computer programming languages have a logical structure.
Various foreign languages contribute to different forms of thinking to relate to the local needs.
I feel that most spoken languages are imperfect. Many words have a certain amount of vagueness, which allows for ambiguity.
When I observe two people talking, I often notice that neither one realizes that the other is completely misunderstanding what they are saying.
They both have an opinion on what the other is conveying, but they each miss the point that the other is trying to make.
Some people have a desire to communicate well. Those people will put extra effort into considering the ambiguity of their statements to avoid misunderstandings.
These same people will, as listeners, make an effort to understand the one speaking.
When they catch a phrase that can be taken two ways, they will question the speaker by asking, “What did you mean by that?” Or they may repeat the statement back in their own words and ask if that was what they meant.
The ambiguity of language can easily cause erroneous communication.
Thinking without words can have a benefit. It can allow us to think faster.
Were you ever aware of yourself considering things without actually putting your thoughts into fully-formed sentences? You may have been thinking in abstract terms, like with the example I gave earlier about buying a pair of shoes.
Humans can do abstract thinking. It's a quick way to consider ideas by using symbols that represent them. We can achieve fast thinking without language by using abstract thoughts.
Consider the feelings that we have about experiences in our lives. We can interpret feelings and emotions more quickly than we would if we verbalized them with structured sentences.
Rather than thinking an entire sentence, such as "I like that painting on the wall with the babbling brook," you just need to feel the pleasure. Then you're done with the thought. That's much faster.
When we think with words, we are slowing ourselves down. However, language has benefits. There's a place for everything.
Various languages allow the expression of different ideas. For example, in the mid-1970s, various computer programming languages were designed for different tasks:
Spoken languages also have special abilities designed into them, based on the needs of the language.
Two linguists, Edward Sapir (1884-1939) and Benjamin Whorf (1897-1941), had publicized an interesting theory. Known as the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis, they stated that the way people think is strongly affected by their native languages.
One of their hypotheses is known as the Linguistic Relativity. The words of a language determine how we think.2
Benjamin Whorf had indicated that words place a label on the idea, and that influences our thoughts about it.
There are over 40 words for camel in the Arabic language. I've done some Google research that shows over 300.
In English, we have just one word for camel, and we include an adjective to describe the kind of camel: Male camel, female camel, old or young camel, and so on.
The Arabic language has 40 words to describe camels by specific entities such as age, color, number of humps, sex, and breeding status.
This direct reference to different kinds of camels helps communicate since camels are essential to life in the deserts of the Arab World.
We have a similar example in the Western world. We have many different words for various types of birds. Each word refers to a specific bird, such as a bluejay, dove, robin, woodpecker, hummingbird, parakeet, sparrow, owl, hawk, etc.
Remembering my High School English, I can explain this. When a direct reference to a noun does not exist in a language, an adjective must be used as a descriptive word.
English and Spanish are two examples where a descriptive word (an adjective) is used to define the subject (the noun).
In English, the adjective comes before the noun, but this is not the case in all languages. Spanish, for example, has the adjective after the noun.
So, in English, one would say, “Julie is my favorite cousin.” But in Spanish, it would be “Julie es tu prima favorita” or “Julie is my cousin favorite.”
When someone learns a new language, their thought patterns may change. The various ways that languages impose restrictions, or include more supportive direct references, can help with thinking as well as communicating.3
Some animals communicate with other methods that do not require structured language. For example:
Non-verbal reasoning is thinking without using sentences.
How often have you just considered a thought visually without putting it into words?
Images can replace language for communication and for thought. It's not uncommon to think in image representations. That can even help with interpretation.
Paying attention to what is going on around us or paying attention to our behavior does not necessarily require words. It's mostly brain activity.
Different regions of the brain are triggered based on what is happening. We may actually have feelings and emotions that come from this brain activity.
Thoughts in the form of words may not be required to feel the feeling. How often do you find yourself saying, "I feel good about this," or "I know I should handle this matter differently."
Those thoughts related to feelings might have developed unconsciously in your brain. You didn't need to use actual words or structured sentences. Words are not always required to describe pleasing or displeasing emotions.
Thinking might be on a conscious level, but I wouldn't rule out unconscious brain activity influencing our thoughts.
Abstract thinking goes beyond concrete thoughts. It allows the ability to visualize ideas beyond the obvious. Child prodigies who can multiply large numbers in their heads are probably using abstract methods of thinking.
You'll know you are doing it when you find yourself interpreting things around you in the form of representation rather than interpreting things literally.
Thinking with representations can be accomplished a lot quicker than actual thinking because no time is wasted putting it into words.
If you find yourself making quick decisions that don't require much mental reasoning, then you are probably thinking abstractly and non-linguistically.
Language does indeed help with the thought process and communication, but it's not an essential requirement. People can think in terms of concepts. Therefore, words are not always necessary.
Cavemen may have been limited in their thinking since they didn't have a fully developed language. However, they conceived of concepts.
An individual can have a concept of an idea. To prove this point, let me ask you:
Have you ever come up with a thought in your mind that you haven't yet put into words?
That's non-verbal reasoning with abstract thoughts. No language was necessary.
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