Not so long ago somebody (I forget exactly who) asked me the quasi-philosophical question: what language do deaf people think in? I remember having a discussion about the idea, and it being quite perplexing to think about. However, looking back, it leaves me with a worry that is more fundamental.
Movies present the thoughts of characters to us as a narrated stream of concious dialogue. If someone sees a girl that he finds attactive his internal thoughts might say something like "wow, she's hot!" But this is not remotely the way I think. My head doesnt sound a little voice that tells me what I'm thinking, I just think it, I become aware of my thoughts towards it. If I have a cup of tea round someone's house and it's really nice, nothing tells me so, I just know that it's really nice.
Sometimes I do create that little voice and say things to myself. I dont know why, I think it's probably just to appease that part of me that thinks that is what I should be doing. But, I think that probably most people have the same experience as me, except that movies and television have tricked us into thinking that everyone else thinks with an internal monologue.
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