(August 3, 2021 at 2:11 pm)evolcon Wrote:(August 3, 2021 at 9:34 am)brewer Wrote: Not discounting the human advantage of language but there is non-language stored/transmitted information lasoMy main point is simply that the difference between the human mind and the animal mind is language, and only language
And I'm not sure what this has to do with EP other than 'Yea Language'.
A quick example, you may have seen the video of the crow confronted with a piece of food at the bottom of a class tube too deep for him to reach, there are also a few objects laying around including a toothpick type stick. Once the crow realizes that he cannot reach the morsel on his own, he cocks his head and looks around, he spots the toothpick, picks it up with his mouth reaches in the tube, spears the food, lifts it our and eats. (applause all around)
A very resourceful animal, but the difference between the crow and a human is this, if you removed the crow after he saw the situation, but before he had a chance to act, he would not have any memory of the problem, he can only operate on the immediate sensory input, the way humans recall memory is by using internal language, that is how we (humans) do it. no animal has directed thought simply because they don't have language
I can solve that problem, (the treat in the tube) if it described to me, using language, and I can solve it sitting at my desk at home, because using internal language, what we call thought, I can recall the images, food, glass tube and toothpick. and manipulate them in my mind, using internal language, because those images are stored in my mind. and stored associated with names. In short, no animal can solve a problem without immediate sensory input,. he cannot recall images because it has no access to his memory, his memory is only triggered by immediate sensory input. It is language that gives us access to all that is stored in our mind.
I'm a a bit puzzled by this. Many animals have a language...it just doesn't happen to be the same as ours...yet we are able to communicate with some animals using words, signs, and body language.
No, I can't explain to a crow how to use a tool but I can teach several other animals how to respond to certain human vocalizations.
Where are we going with this topic?
“If you are the smartest person in the room, then you are in the wrong room.” — Confucius