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Post by pulpulpullie on Mar 4, 2010 12:05:47 GMT -5
Dan's video about dreaming made me think about thinking... In a culture, words are connected to meaning. When I think, I think words. But how do people that are blind and deaf think? Do they know words? Do those people just 'think meaning'? What is thinking anyway? THAT's what blows my mind
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Cortney
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[AWD:0c15]The Objectioner
The Bown
Posts: 885
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Post by Cortney on Mar 4, 2010 12:09:49 GMT -5
Haha, well you also have to consider how do animals think? Animals such as dolphins are said to be smarter than humans are, do they think in those click noises? And other animals whose brains can't perform those higher thinking functions, do they just think "hungry" or "cold"? If so, what do they think instead of these words?
I'm pretty sure animals such as cats and dogs can think about more than we give them credit for. For instance, my cat watches me. If I feed her, she'll watch me to see where I go afterward, then she'll follow me when she's done. This shows planning, but they don't speak human languages. So, how do they think about this?
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Nakor
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Non-Prophet
Posts: 991
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Post by Nakor on Mar 4, 2010 12:37:40 GMT -5
Mind = blown. We probably can't answer the dolphin one, though I have to say it's an interesting question, but we might be able to answer the OP's pondering about whether the deaf think in words or not, if we have any members who fit the bill... anyone?
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Post by pulpulpullie on Mar 4, 2010 12:58:15 GMT -5
Never underestimate the power of social networks! *edit*: tribes
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Post by Steven on Mar 5, 2010 22:35:12 GMT -5
This has always interested me. My old English teacher used to have us close our eyes. She'd say a random word and ask us to describe the very first thing that popped into our head. Some people say the word describing the object, some the individual syllables of the word, and some the visual depiction of the word.
Dogs and cats probably have a huge understanding of the English language - they can recognize his/her name, "food," "treat," etc. But are they hearing fluctuations of sound they have attributed to whatever they think it is, or do they start to understand English?
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Post by Ryan on Mar 6, 2010 0:34:57 GMT -5
Perhaps, we all think in meaning, but as a society where we must translate thoughts into ideas and ideas into words so we can communicate the thought, we rapidly think the words associated with the thought.
When you're hungry, you don't automatically think of the word, you feel the sensation of hunger and translate that to "I'm hungry"
When you have an epiphany about a concept that you've been struggling with, you don't think "eureka!" you think of the meaning of how to go about the concept - and translate appropriately
I would bet that all animals think this way - they think of the meaning and then translate appropriately, be it by translating thoughts to words, or by translating thoughts to action.
In this same sense, as our society is one that relies heavily on communication, when we hear a word, we really translate that word into the thought associated with it. When someone says "Is that a pie I smell baking?" we translate that into the thought of someone experiencing a certain scent, and not only that, but perhaps we are also able of thinking what the scent might be.
Dogs and cats do the same thing, though they may not be able to recognize the language as we use it, they hear the sounds and know the thoughts associated with the sounds, and so when they hear the sounds, they translate into the appropriate mindset.
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Post by gray on Mar 7, 2010 15:31:34 GMT -5
I read an article a few months ago that presented and interesting theory.
It presented the belief that in order to truly "think," one must posess a set language with nouns, verbs, adjectives, ect. It said that most thinking involves using some representation of words to review, analyze, and hypothesize things.
I guess in this case, thinking can be defined as the processing of actions, both hypothetical and real. I've noticed that, in my life, I do alot of things without truly "thinking" about them because I just don't take the time.
Something to try: The next time one of your friends does something, ask them why they did it and think about if their answer seems like the absolute real reason.
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