Regarding our recent discussion of deafness and mentalese, a reader writes:
But what about deaf people who don’t know sign language? I recently read an article that claimed a surprising number of deaf people don’t know sign language, or at least don’t know it very well, especially deaf children who grow up with parents who have normal hearing. So how do they think? Or what about deaf people in remote areas who never encounter sign language? They are obviously thinking somehow but what form do the thoughts take?
If a person were totally deprived of language–both spoken, gestural, and anything else one might propose–then the person would have no option but to think in pure mentalese.
That being said, it isn’t clear to me how common completely language-less people are. I question whether they even exist. The language instinct is so strong in humans that the accounts I have read indicate that even deaf people not exposed to a formal sign languages come up with informal signs.
Recently I was reading an account of a deaf man from Mexico who was never exposed to formal signing. This gentleman not only was able to get across the border with the United States, he was able to survive in the Los Angeles area. When he was discovered, he did not know any established language, including sign languages. An effort was made to teach him a sign language, and soon he “made the breakthrough.” Afterwards, he not only was able to describe his prior experience, he also was able to lead those working with him to other non-signing deaf individuals, who were more common than had been known.
These individuals had a network amongst themselves that had previously escaped notice. Despite their lack of conventional language, they had found ways to communicate with each other and often entertained each others with elaborate pantomimes describing their experiences.
This suggests that the language instinct in humans is so strong that even in the absence of exposure to a formal language, they will come up with an informal one.
This suggests that even these individuals may not think in pure mentalese but might have an accompanying “translation” of their thoughts into the informal gestural methods of communication they invent.
It would be fascinating to have better data on this, however.
Jimmy, do you remember where you encountered that story?? I’d be fascinated to read more. Thanks.
I’m 98% certain that it was The Language Instinct by Steven Pinker, which is a really cool book (even though Pinker is a secular humanist).
The only other book it could be is the other linguistics book I’ve been reading lately, Women, Fire, and Dangerous Things by George Lakoff. This one has a lot of neat stuff in it, but is quite a bit harder to read than Pinker, who has a knack for making linguistic concepts simple to understand.
I’m virtually certain that it was The Language Instinct where I was reading about this, but couldn’t find the book tonight to verify it. Pinker (despite his humanism) is still a good read even if I’m wrong, though.
That story about the language-less Mexican immigrant is from “A Man Without Words” by Susan Schaller.