Originally Posted by white_n_slow
I think in words, but there are obviously concepts that defy articulation (i.e. emotions, etc), so i'm incapable of thinking about a potentially large pool of concepts because I cannot articulate them. I can have feelings about something I can't describe, but I'm not sure I can actually have rational thought about them.
agree/dissagree :dunno:
I think I see what you're saying. A friend of mine told me about a metaphysics problem one of his comp sci professors told him about. The scenario is this:
You're talking to an alien on another planet, but you don't know where the planet is and you don't know what the alien looks like. The alien can speak and understand English and understands as much math as you can explain. Now describe right and left.
If I've accurately repeated it, there is no solution to this problem. (I'll check with my friend the next time I talk to him.)
The point is that articulating abstractions isn't impossible as long as there is a common framework between two people. "Right" and "left" are totally arbitrary words for a spatial concept -- movement in two or more dimensions.