Language came after Thought
In order to be able to prove the statement 'Language came after thought', the words 'language' and 'thought' first will have to be defined. Language could be described as a system for formulating and communicating information, thoughts and feelings. There is, however, not one adequate definition of thinking, since most definitions do not cover all aspects of thought. It could be defined as a mental activity, but also as the way one's mind perceives one's senses. Having gathered this information, the concepts of language and thought will be looked at, and the relationship between the two concepts will be found.
Firstly, a distinction has to be made between the conscious mind and the unconscious mind. There are infinitely more thoughts in our mind than we can ever perceive. The German psychologist Fechner, who lived in the second half of the nineteenth century, compared the mind to an iceberg. This iceberg has only a fraction of all the information and thoughts stored in the mind above the water level, on the surface of consciousness, but by far the biggest part of it is hidden underwater, in the unconscious mind. Recent research has shown that only a very tiny proportion of our unconscious thinking is converted to conscious thinking. This conversion processes like the search engine in a computer: this 'search engine' unconsciously selects the thoughts we want to be available for our conscious mind. Then a small part of the thoughts from the unconscious component of the mind, the part that is aware of, and to a certain extent induces the person's choice of action, is consciously translated into language. This means that the meaning a person wishes to express provides the strategy for the proper word.
In the conscious mind there are words, whereas in the unconscious mind there are only concepts. Creativity, for instance, can be found in the unconscious mind. Inspirations for paintings or for music compositions are found in the unconscious mind. Human beings, however, do not encounter them in the form of words. Musicians in general are much more likely to think in form of harmony instead of in a melody: they do not think in the form of chords, but in the form of harmony and melody. This harmony is in that musician's subconscious mind, and is expressed through his conscious mind in the form of a melody. Even scientists often do not think in language.
This kind of word usage is a part of businesses everywhere around the world. It is known as cognitive grammar. Cognitive grammar is known to influence people by making them think something you want them to think. According to the book titled Cognitive Linguistics, cognitive grammar also leads into a t...
Words are instinctive—the fundamental expression of thoughts secondary to thoughts. They are, indeed, the translations of thoughts, the inexact and practical interpretations of them. They communicate.
In the essay “Thought” by Louis H. Sullivan, he states that people don’t always need words just to communicate. There are several ways that individuals are able to communicate without words, they can express themselves by gestures and facial features, like explaining themselves to others. Sullivan believes that both thinking and creative thinking are better without words and that the minds is always working; therefore, it does not have time to place words together. In order to think clearly they must use other means of pondering; although, the mind works quickly it will take a long time to write what they are thinking because the mind continues without stopping. When individuals are reading they are not think their own thought exactly but what
In today’s society there are many words that are used or said without giving it complete thought. For example, the word “identity” is something to which I have never really given much thought or even considered how I identify myself.
In my experience, I am aware of many cases in which my body affects my mind (I stub my toe & I feel pain) and many cases in which my mind affects my body (I feel an itch & I scratch it).
The mind is the stage where perceptions make their appearance. They are like actors who walk across the stage and are exposed to different situations and environments. Just like various actors walk across the stage at various times with different perceptions to tell the same
Have you ever wondered how musicians can come up with melodies, rhythms, chords, and riffs off-the-top of their heads? Well, this type of spontaneous idea is called improvisation. Improvisation is the creative activity of an “in the moment” musical composition. Basically, it’s a spur-of-the-moment kind of thing where musicians simply make up a rhythm or melody without even thinking about it. Whatever or however a musician is feeling he could incorporate that feeling into a musical thought. But how does this imagination come about? Is there some type of magical feeling that comes over the musician? How can the mind create something on command? Scientists have been baffled at the way the brain acts during musical improvisation. William James has labeled this innovative development as a as a “seething cauldron of ideas, where everything is fizzling and bobbing about in a state of bewildering activity.”(Creation on Command) In the past few years, there have been studies that try to figure out what goes on in the brain with improv is being done. I am going to talk about Dr. Charles Limb study on brain activity and music creativity. Dr. Charles Limb is an associate professor in otolaryngology at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, where he is also a part of the Peabody Institute of Music where he plays the Saxophone, Bass and Piano. He led one of the first brain-scan studies of musical improvisation in 2008. For the past ten years, Dr. Limb has studied what goes on in the brain and how it relates to music. He tested three different of experiments before coming up with a conclusion
Subvocal and spontaneous thoughts are typically generated when an individual is exposed to a convincing message. Due to this, semantic networks are activated through the generation process. They usually contain images, relations, and meanings, as well as reactions and emotional status.
minds are store our experiences. Everyone is born with a part in the brain that
Fodor, JA; Bever, TG; & Garrett, MF. (1975) The Psychology of Language: An Introduction to
thinking depends on the person that is viewing the word because everyone has a unique voice.
Of the many aspects distinguishing humans from other animals, language is probably the most fundamental; not only does it enable communication of ideas, opinions and emotions, it also provides us with many of the sophisticated cognitive faculties we associate with our superiority as a species. In examining the origins of language rather than attempting to determine how it functions, a more fundamental question arises of why language evolved. To investigate this question we must endeavour to find the original beneficial function of language that caused it to be naturally selected and further adapted. Conventionally, language was thought to have evolved as a faculty for exchanging information about the environment, such as planning hunts or giving instruction on how to fashion tools. This theory has since been refuted, largely by drawing on the lack of correlation between early human brain size (upon which language is contingent) and tool complexity (Wynn, 1988). Over the last decade, an alternate explanation for the advent of language has been proposed: its social function. Nonetheless, there remains much discussion as to precisely which of the many social functions was responsible for the evolution of language. I will here discuss: Dunbar’s (1993, 1996a) ‘linguistic grooming’ and ‘social gossip’ theory; Deacon’s (1997) ‘social contract’ theory; a criticism of the social function hypothesis regarding its presupposition of advanced cognition; and finally, an alternative approach based on Gould’s (1996) theory of non-adaptive spandrels.
...ite number of thoughts, feelings, and more. The infiniteness distinguishes this language from a the finite nature of sound and gestures in that important way, so this type of spoken, written language would still be the first of its sort that is acquired.
In this part, the writer will point out the importance of the biological and neural foundation of language learning by discussing the following :First, the brain anatomy. Second, l...
Ideas are man's thoughts. They are fainter copies of impressions, and so they are images in the imagination that are remembered.