THINKING IN CONCEPTS OR LANGUAGE
Do we think with language—or with concepts? When I was a teenager in the States, people often asked me what language I used when thinking alone. At the time, I took it for granted that thinking meant an inner verbal dialogue—English or Spanish, depending on the day. Only later did I realize the question itself was flawed. Curious, I recently looked online and found the usual well-meaning but muddled explanations—proof of how easily people confuse thinking with the words we use to describe it. In Spain, interestingly, no one has ever asked me this. Instead, I have asked others: “When you think, Mr. García López, do you use words or concepts?” Most cannot answer. And that is revealing. Consider two simple examples. Driving down the road: A ball rolls out. Linguistic thinking: “A ball. A child must be nearby… I should brake carefully because of the tailgater behind me.” Half a minute. Conceptual thinking: you see the ball, picture the child, sense the tailgater, and brak...