Dean Mellor forwards this quote:

"Language is the mother of thought, not its handmaiden." ~Karl Kraus

John Lees says:

I totally disagree with this. How, if it is true, does a crow solve a problem involving putting stones in a flask to raise the level.
Does the crow have some kind of proto-language by which to articulate the through process? I don't think that it does.
Imho, thought can handle concepts, even when there are no words to express those concepts. So thought comes first.

Tim adds:

I agree and disagree. I think it more complicarted, and that because there are different KINDS of thought that are both useful and valid.

The brain has two hemispheres, each with it's own unique intelligence and function. Language is entirely based in the Left Hemisphere,and primarily in the human brain in Brocca's region. Animals have nothing comparable, which is why their ability to communicate is more limited than ours. But they can communicate, and in many cases in a fairly sophisticated way. Scientists have been studying the "language" of chipmunks, for instance, and have learned they actually have "words" that can be recorded by machines and identify things.

For that matter, I have a mouse problem in my home and they clearly communicate, not only with squeeks but with smells and those smells change as they try to convey important information (usually about me and what I'm doing).

But the point is language in it's verbal or written form isquite structured and is important for human thought on a left-brain level. The right brain doesn't use language but imagery. But it is no less important as it is also the center for things like spatial senses and creativity.

Albert Einstein had an enlarged node on the right hemisphere of his brain (called the Sign of Omega) and a thickened corpus collosum (the connecting tissue between hemispheres.) It is interesting to note Einstein came up with his theories by imagining things in a spatial way. He pondered what it would be like to ride on a beam of light for instance, and thus developed General Relativity. Language was less important in this than spatial imagination,but Einstein was able to put it into words and mathematical symbols because of the unique structure of his brain, which communicated better than most people's.

So I would say that language is the handmaiden of thought but also the master. Certainly our ability to think is profoundly influenced by language, which can be manipulated to produce results that comport with and describe reality , just as mathematical symbols can be.

I would argue that animal thought can be quite impressive sometimes but in the end animals tend to fail at truly complex things because they cannot think using language that is adequate.

For that matter, the same is true of humans. There are cultures that are technologically savvy and those that are not, and often it is the fault of language that is not suited to science/technology that holds some of these folks back.

I used to translate scientific papers from Russian to English. I was always amazed the Russians did as well as they did in science given the inflexibility of the Russian language in that regard. English is far better suited because English is a pidgin language with multiple words having slightly different shades of meaning and a language structure that helps subtly alter the meaning of sentences. Russian is more blunt and has fewer words. It makes it harder to get some ideas across.

I suspect that is part of why Russia has always struggled with efficiency; their language holds them back.

Granted not all that much; the Russians are both very bright in terms of science and can organize. But there are other nations with other languages even more poorly suited to science and technology. That is why I suspect English is so popular around the globe.

The point is the language is enormously important to our thinking in the abstract while our right-hemispherical imagination helps us in the common activities.

So I think language is both servant and master to thought. There is more than one way to think.

P.S. Intelligent animals can understand human language; my cat would listen to me and do what I asked when he felt like it. But he couldn't manipulate language in the way I can. Even the smartest animals - Gorillas and Chimps - can only go so far. Many have learned sign language and can communicate to a degree but in the end they cannot be taught to do math beyond the most basic arithmetic (as some parrots have learned to count). Language helps us manipulate reality in ways that make us human.

Posted by: Timothy Birdnow at 09:59 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 790 words, total size 5 kb.