How did humanity invent language? Before one understands language; how do they think...

How did humanity invent language? Before one understands language; how do they think? What does the voice in someones head say when you dont understand any language?

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>What does the voice in someones head say when you dont understand any language?

This is an extremely difficult thing to find out because you'd have to find someone who never learned a language but is old enough to remember things accurately, then teach them a language so they can communicate with us.

So there have only ever been like one or two cases over the past couple of centuries, so it's not even a terrific sample size to study. But to the best of our knowledge, you'd simply imagine stuff. So if you wanted something out of the fridge, you'd think of the fridge, then think of opening the fridge, etc, etc. It is rather limited, which is why language (and thus the ability to express and communicate abstract concepts) is such a massive development

>How did humanity invent language?
This also really difficult to study because we don't have any direct evidence to study, so there is no real consensus. Best to read up on the wiki article en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Origin_of_language

what language are the deafs think in?

Yeah. I've never thought of that

You generally don't think in a language, retard.

They think in sign language, ie they imagine themselves making the signs that express their thoughts.

??? I think in English

Hah, of course a subhuman Slovenian would not know how humans think.

I already think like this most of the time rather than a "voice in my head".

Then you have a mental problem, friendo :)

But on a more serious note, it's not like we can't do the same thing. The difference is that they aren't able to do anything else.

pic related suggests that the invention of writing was related to the late development of consciousness. People say it's not a very scientific book but it's a great read. one of my favorites.

The theory goes that before we were conscious we heard the voice of "gods" in our head directing us like automatons. The invention of writing and the development of an elaborate language of metaphor eventually developed what we call "consciousness". The author suggests this happened comparatively late-- around 3000 bc or so for westerners, and much later for other civilizations. He postulates that the Incas and Aztecs were conquered by so few Spanish because they were essentially "pre-conscious"

whoops. forgot pic

If we look at animals we can see the beginnings of speech.

Certain primates will use specific sounds to signal danger, specifically what kind of danger (what type of animal), and where it's coming from (high or low).

Communications of dolphins/whales seems to be more complex, but IIRC we haven't really cracked too deeply into that.

As for specific words... I have a pet theory that twins might have started language. There's that thing where young twins will invent their own language before they learn their first proper language. Their internal state is so similar that it's easy to create words between the pairs. All it takes is other people using their words to kickstart a language.

> Before one understands language; how do they think?
You can still think in images, even if you've always been deaf, even if you don't have sign language. Obviously it will limit how complex your thoughts can be, though.

This guy is kinda right

If you hear voices in your head while you think then you are a slave to your thoughts. It is literally the reason why people get depressed and animals don't, we think with voices in stead of our intuition.

Most people don't even realise they can think without voices in their head.

Vocal cords. All Animals have codes to communicate between themselves. We probably started with grunts and when grunta werent enough to pass more complex information, moved on to paintings and created the Language, which is nothing more than another tool to pass on information.

Inner monolouge the voice you use to think is what that is called.

Go be drunk somewhere else Ivan

wheres the hebrew in that image you antisemite

That's not Russia tard. Stop bad mouthing Russia.
For example when I'm hungry I think of an image(or feeling) of what I want to eat rather than think "Hmm what should I eat today?" in my head.

If there's a weirdo in front of me ranting on I just "feel" that he's weird rather than have an inner voice go "wow this guy is weird, I need to get away from him".

I thought everyone was like that?
I have a voice when I read things or write, like I have one now as I'm typing this, but I generally do not have an inner voice most of the time unless I'm carefully trying to solve an issue.

It should be noted I have a really good memory, I've been told I should study the "method of loci" where it claims that you're able to deal a deck of 52 cards, all 52 cards, and then be able to tell which order they came in, including the suit.

that's a good point but I don't think solely the reason for depression. Animals can get depressed by the way.

mind is not brain and animals aren't conscious and there is no reason for me to think you are either. why would i want such a thing anyways?

suck it, atheist.

Stop sucking russias dick fggt

I'm bilingual so I oftentimes don't even think in a language so much as in feelings. I'm perfectly fluent in my mother tongue, and I'm great at English when typing/writing it, but for some reason a lot of times when I try to translate from feeling to English it sounds like George W. Bush trying to speak. Very annoying. Did not have that problem even 5 years ago.

When I write and read I have an inner monologue. If I'm solving a math problem I don't think with an inner monologue I just do it.

Enjoying that cut jew dick eh?

You can think without inner voice, and no one is sure how we invented it, we know very little about it honestly.

Genesis 11:1-9New International Version (NIV)

The Tower of Babel
11 Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. 2 As people moved eastward,[a] they found a plain in Shinar[b] and settled there.

3 They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. 4 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”

5 But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. 6 The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.”

8 So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. 9 That is why it was called Babel[c]—because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world. From there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth.

>let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.”

language existed before humanity, there are other species with languages, however simple. human language presumably evolved alongside humanity itself.

>animals
>conscious
typical atheist chimpfucker

OP. I suggest you post this in /sci/.

Good questions. Interesting topic.

Animals can communicate with vocals already. Anyone with a dog will know the variety of noises they make, which we can readily understand, becasue we share some of them and we have associated with these animals for a long time.. Their variety of growls, yaps and whines can convey up to a dozen different meanings. Humans probably began the same way. Grunts, yelps, hoots, growling, screams, whines. Along with imitating the sounds of other animals around them.

Hiss! + ow! = Lookout! There's a fucking snake!

Grunt! Mmmm! Mmmm! = this fruit is safe to eat.

With such building blocks of "words" and thousands of years of slowly building up, refining, adding on stuff its not hard to imagine how language developed in the earlier days.

But we have translators and with the internet even more so. Its almost as if we speak in one language with the assistance of tech. Why isnt god interfearing?

>Most people don't even realise they can think without voices in their head.
Ironically because they don't think (most people)

Uau pizza panini spaghetti polpette al sugo!