if a human being was born in the wild and left alone. When this person grows to be able to think, would they think using a language of their own or would they just develop an understanding of the world around?
In: Biology
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There have been [feral children](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feral_child), but I don’t think any of them survived from birth. Mostly toddlers, from what I read.
They would grow to think without language. Developing their own language would require them to have the need to communicate. Also, languages are thought to develop in communities, not in individuals.
Thinking without a language is not that odd.
They would be much dumber than the average human due to poor nutrition combined with the impact of never developing language, social or problem solving skills which would render them much closer to a wild ape with social problems than a human.
The language you speak has far, far more impact on the way you think than you probably are even aware of. It helps you internalise your thinking and make sense of your experiences. You can reflect on things that just happened and analyse the past to learn and grow, and also can comprehend that a future exists and begin to understand how it could pan out.
It alters your perception of literally the tiniest experiences, and I mean not just knowing language, but people who speak different languages think differently because of the way their brain processes information. Also being outside of human contact would mean zero social skills and missing out in probably 99.9% of the learning needed to exist in modern society.
Humans learn mainly through social experiences and observing others first, especially during formative years, either their parents, siblings, peers, strangers in the street, characters on TV etc.
The human brain has a huge capacity for learning, but it can’t do it without some sort of facilitation. When we learn, the brain actually PHYSICALLY changes in shape, known as neuroplasticity.
I could go on about this topic for hours. My degree is in Education Studies and I wrote my dissertation on second language learning.
im fascinated by ‘feral children’ mostly by utterly neglectful parents. none seem to gain or regain the ability to speak. but whats crazy is they dont have any temperature preferance, as in their bodies can regulate their temps much better than ours because they had to adapt or die. like being able to play in the snow naked or taking ice cold baths, or conversely roasting in hot rooms or outside in the sun doesnt seem to bother them at all.
King James IV did an [experiment](https://ramblinghistory.co.uk/2021/12/22/inchkeith-language-experiment/) to place 2 infants with their mute mother on the island of Inchkeith and see if they started speaking human’s natural language. They did not.
Nonverbal children (often victims of severe abuse – such as being born and then locked in a basement for twelve to twenty years) are capable of complex thought, but struggle with language for the rest of their lives, even when someone teaches them how to speak.
They are nonverbal thinkers. They have no internal dialogue. This is more common than you might think. Personally, I only have an internal dialogue when I’m speaking, reading or writing. The rest of the time, my thoughts are in half remembered memories, images, sensations, emotions, sounds, hypotheticals and metaphors.
Short answer: no. No language.
They would die.
People don’t live alone. And studies have been done to try to find the original human language by trying to raise infants without speaking to them. They end poorly.
I found the radiolab episode on language and the human brain incredible.
https://radiolab.org/podcast/91725-words
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