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Why do we have an internal monologue?
(lemmy.world)
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this post was submitted on 02 Jan 2024
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Chomsky's concept of UG (universal grammar) is able to handle this. Since there would be a chunk of language that is innate (universal), that feral child would share it. So, as a conclusion from that, even if the feral child isn't expressing it through vocalisation, since they lack an "application" of the UG (like Nahuatl, Mandarin, Quechua, English, Kikongo etc.), they'd still have some rather simple internal monologue.
...that said I think that Chomsky's UG is full of shit. I do agree with him that the faculty of language might have developed first to structure thought; but my reasoning resembles a bit more yours, the role of language would be to formalise thought. Thinking without language is possible in the same way as moving across a village without roads - it's doable but clunky, and you'll likely take far more effort than with proper roads/ a language.
Don't worry. Everyone and their dog challenges him. Including himself, he's often contradicting his own earlier statements.
Haven't read the work, but if I can extrapolate based on assumption, this seems like something that makes sense in an innate way.
Colour would be the best example. And I think it's an interesting one. The utility in recognising district colours is fairly obvious. Our conscious and memory need a way to label the experience of encountering different wavelengths of light, Otherwise you wouldn't be able to recognise them again surely? You at least need a form of language internally to have the ability to recognise a pattern you've experienced. To me that speaks to the utility of internal dialogue/monologue.
Your own experience of a specific colour can differ wildly from another person's. However, because the wavelength is the same, you can attach a common label to it.
The question of which originated first is interesting to me, but because of the further point, a fundamental system of attaching common labels must exist. Kids can often sort objects in categories before language skills develop.
Seems to me that we do have a universal internal language innate to all of us and we learn a common language later. It also stands to reason that the origins of external language must be based on ancestral internal language.
Perhaps those without verbal internal monologue/dialogue have a more persistent innate language, that is not overwritten by common external language?
/Ramble
[Note: this is my personal take, not Chomsky's]
We can recognise colours and things even without properly labelling them. (Colour example: I have no clue on how to call the colour of my cat's fur, but I'm fairly certain to remember thus recognise it.) However, it's hard to handle them logically this way.
And at least for me this is the main role of the internal monologue. It isn't just about repeating the state of the things, it's about connecting pieces of info together, as if I was explaining the link to another person.
Possible; I don't know, really. It's also possible that the "innate language" doesn't really exist, only the innate ability to learn a language; but that ability is already enough to structure simple reasoning.