humanthought

One type of thought I will label as non lingual. In this category would fall all actions which are carried out without requiring the statement of the words mentally. This could mean the moving of a limb, the catching of a ball, or the movement of the mouth when speaking. This category would, however, not include motions such as breathing which are inherent in animals upon birth. This would be because once criteria of thought is that the object of the thought must be learned. The movement in response to pain, or other external stimuli, which is instinctive, I would deem as non lingual, as it is a learned response.

Lingual thought, which would be any thought which the mind requires the facilitation of some expression of language, is the next type of thought. This would encompass the expression of feelings and emotions, the thought required to perform complex actions, and in general thought in an area not yet learned. I would further say that once a lingual thought has been firmly established in ones mind it could convert into a non lingual thought. This I would deem as the act of learning.

I will further define lingual thought into two categories, abstract and physical. Physical lingual thought would be those thoughts which deal directly with physical stimuli. It could refer to the internal statement of an unlearned action. It would not necessarily require the actual lingual formulation. However, as the movements of the body are classified internally with lingual definitions, it would still fall under the lingual category. Abstract lingual thought I would classify as those thoughts which attempt to define, explain, or express abstract emotional feelings. This category would include the internal formulation of new ideas, not spontaneously, but rather from existing memory which is linguistically interpreted.

The distinguishing factor between humans and life forms other than humans, is, with possible exceptions, the amount and complexity of learning capable. Many species have the ability to learn tasks and to be able to repeat them with varying degrees of accuracy. Less species appear to have some form of language with which to increase their ability to learn. Humans, who have the most advanced form of linguistic ability, necessarily have the most advanced thought. When I say linguistic ability I refer not only to the amount of distinguishable expressions which can be detected by another being but also to the capacity and complexity of the beings memory of those expressions. Therefor, what I attribute to causing the increased complexity of non lingual thought in humans is the increased capacity for memory of the brain, or the ability to express and comprehend a sizable number of external stimuli.

One problem which needs to be addressed is whether abstract lingual thought, as defined above, requires the aid of language. Some abstract linguistic thought, in particular those abstract emotions which are inherent in animals (i.e. love, hate, happiness, ect.) would most certainly not require language. They, being inherent qualities of higher life, must however be a quality which requires less capacity and complexity for the memory of linguistic expression than forms found only in humans. Other abstract linguistic thought, the formulation of new ideas from existing memory experiences and the interpretation, expression, explanation, or definition of abstract emotions or ideas, must require more capacity and complexity for the memory of linguistic expression, as it is only present in humans who posses more of those qualities. Therefor I would say that "human language" is required for the expression of the latter type of abstract linguistic thought, as it is not present in those species who do not possess lingual capabilities of humans complexity or capacity.

Linguistic ability I will deem the ability to classify and organize incoming external stimuli. The formulation of new ideas I will deem the internal addition of previously received external stimuli. The complexity of formation of new ideas, therefor, is dependent upon the relative complexity and capacity of linguistic ability or the ability to classify and organize incoming external stimuli. As the linguistic ability is dependent upon the capacity and complexity of the memory of the being , so too is the complexity of new ideas.

One notion which needs to be clarified is the formulation of new ideas. By this I mean the processes of reason. The beginning criteria of reason I deem the external stimuli received by the being. These external stimuli are arranged and defined by the being in linguistic manners. The formation of new ideas from these external stimuli follow learned methods. There are numerous methods by which new ideas can be formed by external stimuli. Need based formation of new ideas takes previously acquired external stimuli and produces possible solutions to problems needing solution. Analogous reasoning is the application of previous external stimuli to situations deemed similar through stereotyping. The accuracy of these learned methods of reason is directly proportional to the experience of previous attempts of the method. Many of these methods require stereotyping, which itself is one of the basic learned methods of reasoning.

The concept of stereotyping, which lies at the root of nearly all reason, gives grave implications on the ultimate validity of reasoning. If the at the base of our reasoning and development of new ideas is the previous memory of past external stimuli, and the method by which we use that stimuli to develop the new idea is based upon stereotyping, then we can not know with certainty whether the assumption is true. As no external stimuli can be absolutely identical in all characteristics to another, the use of this individual stimuli as a tool for determining the exact characteristics of other stimuli can never be definite. The combination of many stimuli with a similar characteristic can, however, become a useful tool with which approximations can be made. In this way stereotyping, although never exact, can produce a usable base on which reason can begin.

Stereotyping, which could quite possibly be defined as abstract lingual thought of the first type (that type which does not require the complexity and capacity of the human brain but can be used in lesser animals) in some situations. The ability to stereotype, to be able to make judgments on concepts or objects no yet experienced from conclusions discerned from past external stimuli, is at the root of the concept of learning. By drawing conclusions from past stimuli and applying that knowledge to future external stimuli or situations is a definite advantage over beings not displaying this ability. Due to this, the development of the physical capacity to stereotype (i.e. the development of a brain with the capacity and complexity to stereotype) would be a trait which would be evolutionarily selected for.