At last we come to finding an answer to Question 4 of my Five Questions. I have delayed a little, well procrastinated really, because I am a bit at a loss as to how to answer the question. It’s difficult!
Question 4: Does thought require language?
This is my, fairly unrefined, thinking on the question. I have no idea if scientists and philosophers agree with me or not; that isn’t the point.
Let us assume first that we humans have language and are capable of thought, by which I mean contemplating something which is outside out immediate senses — say a sunny beach while we’re commuting on the London Underground — or something abstract — say a question like “Does thought require language?”
Now it is certainly true that we do think in language. So the main question is, can we think without the use of language?
It is also true that how we think and perceive the world depends on our language and vice versa. For instance many hunter-gatherer languages have no concept of numbers greater than two — their counting system, if they even have one, goes “One, Two, Many” — they have just never needed to count as they don’t engage in commerce.
So our world view, our language system, and hence one would think our thought processes are intimately entwined. But again the question is can (could) we think without using language?
Next we need to ask “What is language?”. Does language include visual representation (pictures in the mind’s eye)? Or juxtapositions of coloured shapes which have word meanings, as a synesthete might have? Does language include the chirrups my cat uses to (try to) communicate with me? Or even musical ideas heard in the brain, as I suspect many composers have?
Do composers think in sound sequences? Do artists think is colour swatches? Can chefs think in tastes? And if so, do these constitute language? Perhaps they do. Maybe language isn’t just words.
And how do babies think, before they have learnt to speak; before they have acqured language? They aren’t just dumb automata, as any parent will tell you!
All pet owners will know that cats and dogs also give the impression of thinking, of working things out. As do squirrels when presented by a challenge to get at some nutritious nuts. Do they do this contemplation in meows, barks and squeaks? Or maybe in images? Or smell? Or maybe they too have some sort of synaesthesia to help them?
It seems to me unlikely that a squirrel can plot a path to its nuts without some form of “visualisation”, even if that is looking at the tree branches and considering whether it can jump a particular gap. It may not do this consciously, but in some way it would appear to be using some, at least rudimentary, method of mental discovery and abstract conceptualisation. And this could, very loosely, be called language. But of course we may never be able to understand exactly what the squirrel’s processes are. Or those of our cats and dogs. Or indeed those of our pre-linguistic babies.
To me it seems intuitive that thought cannot happen unless there is some “medium” to convey it. Whether that is words, pictures, musical sequences, dog barks or dolphin squeaks doesn’t really matter. In a sense they are all language. And while many animals will react instinctively to some stimuli (male moths blindly following the pheromones to a female which turns out to be an insect trap) it would appear logical that animals are incapable of abstract, constructive, thought without their particular language.
So ultimately I think, yes, thought does require language of some form.
I thought I’d give my crystal ball a dust off and see if I could come up with a few ideas as to what might happen over the course of this brand new 2015.
About 11.30 we sat down with an extra large G&T (Noreen had a similarly large Bacardi & Coke) and opened our main presents. As always there was a fair amount of alcohol and quite a few books. But we always manage to find each other something unusual: this year I got Noreen a Jersey milk/cream jug — silver plate, pre-WWII and probably made for the tourist market, but a nice thing nonetheless.