Is it possible to think without language?

Question

Is it possible to think without language?

Answer 1

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha haaaaa---no.  

Answer 2

Probably.

Consider a dog. Anyone who has spent any time around dogs knows dogs can think. But they don't have language. There - proved it.

Answer 3

Yes, it is...There are many people who, due to auditory and visual disabilities, had never been able to learn a language...or even come in contact with it. But they still think just like anyone else.

Answer 4

I think you do all the time, and sometimes conceptualise it into language

Answer 5

Yes it is. Animals prove it all the time. Consider the following math 2 + 2 = ?. To arrive at the answer you didn't so much think it as have it pop in your head. The interesting thing about thinking in words is that it seems to be at the end of a production process but some how that narration of words can also feedback to direct itself.

Answer 6

Well, can deaf mutes think?

>>>Rob how do you know that? Being unable to step outside the confinements of your own thought patterns...how do you know what other forms of thought could be like or whether or not they could be analytical? There is certainly bound to be a difference...but without the ability to experience both, there is no way to judge or to say factually which is "better" or more advanced.

Answer 7

You can think without language, but only in the most basic ways.

Do you remember as a child how visual your mind was? Much the same as with a dog, you associated the picture of a glass jar with the sweet cookies inside. You heard the slam of a car door at 5:45 and could predict your father would be next through the door.

All that is thought. So without language a person can think through ASSOCIATION, but cannot think analytically. Analytical thought requires a complexity of ideas only available in language.

Answer 8

Yes.

Answer 9

G That is a deep consideration. We have all seen videos of animals considering alternatives and making decisions. The scientific proof is still in debate. There is more heat than light on this subject. Many scientist could improve their work if they could hear opposing views and examine them without immediately defending against them.

Answer 10

No, you have to have language.

Answer 11

Obviously, you don't need to speak in order to think. You just think! But you wouldn't be able to talk to anyone else about your thoughts without some form of expression. But that again doesn't HAVE to be language based; art therapy, dance therapy etc are expression of thoughts and emotions without the use of language. I guess so do is music (classical anyway)