Does Language determine Thought?

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ii

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I have a question. Imagine you grow up without sign language or any conception of language at all -- essentially you are without a language except for your inner voice. Do you think that this prevents you from thinking at the level of a person who has the language? Does language enable us to construct a narrative? Can we have thought without language?
 
good question, or is it culture that determine thought or combination but in what way? but in th nutshell its not the philosophy that stands to be an explanation, it can't mainyl because people have different personalities too, they operates, absorb information and process information in quite different ways than a 'theory thinker(s) might conjere...
 
I grew up without having the language. I just used my eyes to follow what every one and every thing going on surrounding me never fully understand children and adults. Sometimes the images in my mind can be frightening when I did not know what is going one like a bonfire or a moose wading in the lake. That is something I get confused on some things like that. I don't remember if I was using the home sign language. I started in elementary mainstream school which I learned to read, write and speak with speech therapy (oral only method, no ASL) at 8 1/2 years old close to 9 years old. I really got interest learning to read than writing and speaking. It is the image that I want to see what is going on in my mind. That is why I need ASL more than speaking in oral method. I hate oral method. UGH!!!! It just made me mad when the school refused to let me learn and use ASL for many years in both elementary and high school. After I graduated from high school, I learned how to signed with the Deaf pastor who have a Deaf Lutheran church. I was and still am Catholic, but I was grateful to be able to sign so that I can communicate with the Deaf communities. It just lift my chest and shoulder and was very happy to be able to sign. I love it when I could understand what Deaf people said and able to understand ASL interpreters who I need them for services. Life is a bliss. :D
 
I've read some articles denouncing the myth that a specific language influences your beliefs, but having no language at all… that I would like to see research on.
 
I'm certain you would still think... more so in pictures or things you would remember by sight or scent... various other senses... Not having a language would not hinder your ability to think or remember. I personally don't think it would hinder a person at all, since you still have sight to remember actions and various other things... That's just my personal take on it.
 
there a film with Jodie foster which about this subject no remember name of it but true story...I encourage you to find it
 
ii said:
I have a question. Imagine you grow up without sign language or any conception of language at all -- essentially you are without a language except for your inner voice. Do you think that this prevents you from thinking at the level of a person who has the language? Does language enable us to construct a narrative? Can we have thought without language?
Click to expand...

Yes, it would prevent you from understanding concepts which someone with formal schooling has encountered. But, it would not prohibit you from learning them(given that you could communicate in some way).

Language is the product of a narrative. It is the transference of though into symbols or gestures. Since it is a tool for conveying a narrative, the narrative comes from one's thoughts first, not the other way around.

Thought comes before language so, yes, we all have thought without language. The symbols, gestures and syllables are just written, expressed and auditory conveyance of thought.
 
Is It Possible To Think Without Language? | Mental Floss




"There is also evidence that deaf people cut off from language, spoken or signed, think in sophisticated ways before they have been exposed to language. When they later learn language, they can describe the experience of having had thoughts like those of the 15 year old boy who wrote in 1836, after being educated at a school for the deaf, that he remembered thinking in his pre-language days "that perhaps the moon would strike me, and I thought that perhaps my parents were strong, and would fight the moon, and it would fail, and I mocked the moon." Also, the spontaneous sign languages developed by deaf students without language models, in places like Nicaragua, display the kind of thinking that goes far beyond mere sensory impression or practical problem solving. "

I would love to know if there a book about this boy , it would very interesting to read.
 
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