Language is not essential for the cognitive processes that underlie thought

For those who can’t and don’t think in words this is unsurprising.

I remember back in school, a language teacher once was trying to convey the importance of language. One of his main arguments was that we needed words and languages in order to think. I still recall my disbelief.

I spent the next few days trying to understand how that process worked. I would force myself to think in words and sentences. It was incredibly limiting! So slow and lacking in images, in abstract relationships between ideas and sensations.

It took me another few years to realise that many people actually depend on those structures in order to produce any thought and idea.