Cooking shows that language is not the basis of thought

Posted by Victor on October 17, 2002

Richard Byrne, who this week was in Barcelona giving a conference, and his team at the University of St. Andrews, dispel the myth that language is the origin of thought.

As they put it, gorillas can ‘think’ recipes for cooking without formulating them in words, but rather as a sequence of steps in order to prepare a meal. Other apes also express similar behaviours, says Byrne.