Chapter 8 has in-depth analysis of something that comes as second nature to us; language. Fascinating, yet overlooked questions arise such as the one you see above. Do we truly think in words? Do we speak before actually speaking?
First, lets overview the simple, but not so simple thing we call language.
The text explains the process of language as a meal, from the ingredients of the food to the etiquette of the diner. To dissect and look into the native language you speak is something that brought interest to me.
Something though that was even more intriguing to me was the question that had been mentioned earlier. "Do we think in words?" John B. Watson had believed that there was no thinking without language. Instantly after skimming through this section the image of a thought bubble came to mind.
In its simplest definition, a thought bubble is someone thinking in words. So therefore have we communicated that we do think in words as a public whole?
As a young kid, that is how we all learned to express what someone was feeling through a drawing, and even now thought bubbles are used in many everyday things. Comics being the most popular place to find a thought bubble.
I'm anticipating the analysis of this topic; is language really as simple as we see it? Or are we just not looking far enough into the many languages that exist in our world? Do we think in words? and how does language effect our reading?
Re:Do we think in words?
My initial reaction is that we think both in words and not. As we develop a vocabulary we veer away from non-word based thinking. I imagine that babies, prior to learning any words are able to have and express thoughts without communicating those thoughts through words.