If you could read minds

[durhay]

would you only be able to understand people who spoke your language? i.e do you think in English?

 

[mightyduck]

Originally posted by durhay
would you only be able to understand people who spoke your language? i.e do you think in English?

An interesting question.

(btw, current brain research indicates that for MOST people, the acquisition of language means thinking in that language...hence the ability to "think" about abstract concepts, and the reason some cultures don't have certain concepts and have difficulty grasping them--no language to facilitate the learning)

 

[Erika]

That IS an interesting question!

Our thinking is language-related. It has been shown that babies of Deaf parents (who sign) get a cognitive head-start on babies of speaking parents, because they learn to sign faster than other children learn to speak. (Children learn to control their hands quicker than they learn to control their tongues.)

I took French for a few years, and ASL (American Sign Language) for 4 semesters, and have on occasion had dreams in those languages. Not very often, but it has happened! I also took Russian as a kid but I don't remember enough to even form a sentance in that language, much less dream in it :lol:

 

[mightyduck]

Originally posted by Erika
That IS an interesting question!

Our thinking is language-related. It has been shown that babies of Deaf parents (who sign) get a cognitive head-start on babies of speaking parents, because they learn to sign faster than other children learn to speak. (Children learn to control their hands quicker than they learn to control their tongues.)

I took French for a few years, and ASL (American Sign Language) for 4 semesters, and have on occasion had dreams in those languages. Not very often, but it has happened! I also took Russian as a kid but I don't remember enough to even form a sentance in that language, much less dream in it :lol:

Erika-

Great information! We learned that in my education classes (about the children of deaf parents). In addition, if children do not receive language by age 2, there are certain parts of the brain that will never develop. It's fascinating to me.

Tied in to this is the way language relates to memory. I have bilingual friends who tell me they think in their native tongue when thinking about or discussing certain topics, and English for others. For example, all their formal education was in English, so anything academic requires them to think in English. But if they are thinking about their homeland or family issues or things relating to certain parts of their childhood, they automatically begin thinking in their native language...

 

[DisneyCP2000]

Maybe? I've taken Spanish and French in HS and College. I've picked up Cantonese from my family, but can barely speak it. So if someone were to think/speak thier minds I'd assume I could pick it up? I doubt if anyone could read my mind though...I usually mix them up into new languages. Spanglish, Sprench, and Chinglish :lol:

 

[mkt]

I think in Spanish...

 

[Herbie53]

All the studies and everything aside, all you really have to do is stop for a moment and listen to yourself think. Your internal dialogue has to take place in some language. It's not quite the same thing, but my mother (who is a typist) says that after a long day of working she sometimes finds herself spelling out every word in her thought process and visualizing the keystrokes. She says its very frustrating.

 

[durhay]

Originally posted by Herbie53
All the studies and everything aside, all you really have to do is stop for a moment and listen to yourself think. Your internal dialogue has to take place in some language. It's not quite the same thing, but my mother (who is a typist) says that after a long day of working she sometimes finds herself spelling out every word in her thought process and visualizing the keystrokes. She says its very frustrating.

I'm a programmer, and I constantly find myself IF, THEN, and ELSEing when I think.

 

[DisneyCP2000]

Originally posted by durhay


I'm a programmer, and I constantly find myself IF, THEN, and ELSEing when I think.

Now, don't get yourself stuck in a infinite loop with a FOR or a WHILE! I used to have nightmares from programming too much.:hammer:

 

[Tramp]

...when you read someone else's mind, are you reading the contents of their brain or just what they are thinking at a given moment...?

..I always think in Pig Latin.

 

[Erika]

Originally posted by Tramp

..I always think in Pig Latin.

THAT's certainly appropriate :lol: (dirty mind)

 

[Big Al's Gal]

I wanna be like stich and be able to understand all languages...

 

[mightyduck]

Originally posted by Tramp
...when you read someone else's mind, are you reading the contents of their brain or just what they are thinking at a given moment...?

..I always think in Pig Latin.

Well, that's another interesting point. I would think that only what people are actively thinking about because of the neural energy (I'm just making this up, of course) expended--there would be an electrical "signal" to pick up, rather than the information stored away, which requires an electrical impulse for even the person whose head it's in to decode it.

Wow, this is deep stuff for a Mickey Mouse board...

And Erika is probably on target!

 

[TravisMT81]

you wouldn't want to read my mind :lol: :animwink:

 

[mkt]

don't try to get into my mind... you may get hurt

 

[conntom]

I dont read minds but I do see spirits oh its not Hollywood
they dont go Bo but yes I can talk to then and they can talk
to me and it is not scary :zipit: