When someone says “I have been thinking about…”, what do they mean? To “think about” a subject is something taken for granted that we are all able to do and apparently snails cannot. It allows us to take advantage of tools and even conceive and make them, which we only see rudimentary in other rare species. It allows us to share information and cooperate. Memory certainly plays a role, but I am convinced the root of our advantage is simply language.
I have been pondering… well, pondering! Evaluating how I am doing this has led me to an observation. ALL of my thoughts are in words. Even my thoughts about thoughts are expressed to myself in words, in my case in English, and in my head in my own voice.
I have been imagining how I approach technical puzzles, for example. While I am typing away the stuff I am typing is echoing in my head — words, commands, digits, and any thoughts about what I should do next… all in words, spoken aloud in my head, and in my voice. After typing this paragraph I read it back over to myself, which I always do, and it was all in my head in my voice. Even the inflections I imagined would go with speaking the text were in my voice.
Waking up in the morning, my first thoughts are definitely in my head and usually about my back. This isn’t to push aside the significance of smells that bring back memories…
