2006-10-20 04:51:49 · 28 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Cultures & Groups ➔ Other - Cultures & Groups
We would not think at any kind of high level, and it has been shown that children brought up without any contact with language, for example by animals, before the age of about four or five, find it very difficult to learn a language and their intellectual development is significantly impaired.
Language is born in us but needs some kind of trigger to allow it to develop. Interestingly, if children speaking different languages are thrown together for whatever reason they will develop a language peculiar to that group, called a 'Creole Language' Astonishingly, to me anyway, this is also true of deaf children who create a 'Creole' sign language. These language will have their own consistent grammatical rules.
It is believed that we are all born with a 'basic grammar' in our minds for no matter which of the six mains language groups that exist, and if a child is brought up with two different languages being used around it it will learn the two, no matter how different, (English and Japanese for example).
So in terms of human development language and intellect go hand in hand, or step by step if you like, but basically without language there is no real intellect or intelligence.
2006-10-20 21:49:12 · answer #1 · answered by DavidP 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Well, yes.
Language isn't the only form of thought or interaction. Many people think in pictures and ideas, not just words. Small children don't speak a language, but they still think. We have language because we are civilized, social creatures and have evolved to use an efficient form of thinking and communicating.
If language never evolved, some other simpler form of communication would still be in practice like pictures and pointing. We wouldn't be as smart as we are now, but we would still be thinking.
2006-10-20 12:04:31 · answer #2 · answered by oh really 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yeah because when you think of an apple you don't just think of the word apple you think of the taste, smell, shape etc.
There's a lot more to thought than the expression of it through language.
2006-10-20 11:58:30 · answer #3 · answered by basisdnb 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think so .... we don't all think in the same way, some see pictures etc I think we would just adapt and develop another 'language' spoken or otherwise.
People who are born deaf still think ... they just develop another form of language to order their thoughts.
2006-10-20 11:56:29 · answer #4 · answered by Isam8 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
people think in language so the quality of our thoughts can only be as good as the quality of our language.
2006-10-20 12:30:48 · answer #5 · answered by paratroop327 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i always think that cos we think in language so how would this work if we had no lang. Animals don't have a language though and they seem to manage it so i suppose so. Wow, its good to know someone shares my warped mind! lol
2006-10-20 11:55:58 · answer #6 · answered by name. 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If we didn't have language we would just be animals. And yes we could still think because we would still have our brains wouldn't we?
2006-10-20 11:57:55 · answer #7 · answered by *Cara* 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'm pretty sure we could: before language was invented humans must have been able to think.
2006-10-20 12:00:23 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is because we think we have language.
2006-10-20 13:30:40 · answer #9 · answered by Lotus Phoenix 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
We articulate our thoughts with language. So yes. We would be able to think.
2006-10-20 12:00:31 · answer #10 · answered by Bo 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋