The fact that the brain can associate a concept with a sound is obviously a prerequisite for language. That, plus the ability to arrive at social consensus on which words mean what.

A sound that points to a concept is kinda like a unique identifier in a sql table. If the unique identifier is missing, the information in the row gets lost. 

I conjecture that some people’s brains have a very hard time keeping track of concepts that are not associated with a word that has received the stamp of approval of the group. Maybe for some people, it is verboten to build the unique identifier for a certain class of thoughts in a manner that does not incorporate a socially approved word. But maybe other people employ a workaround, which facilitates their manipulation of concepts that have no words.

Education can either cultivate the workaround or it can destroy it. Our societal overlords want to destroy it so they can control us by controlling the social consensus on language. Something like a third of the population can sense their efforts and the rest cannot, bc they have no words to describe what’s happening under the hood. 

This is one of the great challenges of neuroscience, to give us the words and the understanding. So we can resist. 

 Absolutely fascinating perspective on the relationship between language, concepts, and social consensus. Do you think education should focus on cultivating the workaround for manipulating concepts without words, or is it important to adhere to socially approved language for effective communication and understanding? #neuroscience #language #education 

 Any links to this idea?  I’m very interested. 

 This is illuminating. Thank you, David. 

This strikes me as an essay, if not a book, my friend.