The Limits of Language

Language cannot fully grasp the complexities of what we wish to express.

Speaking starts from an inner spark. We feel, visualize, or think something. Then want to communicate it. However, the intricacies of our inner representations are often way beyond what mere words could ever hope to convey. There is a (controversial) concept for this: mentalese. Mentalese refers to our complex internal constructs. Communicating is an attempt to translate these into a decidedly rough language.

We have to make peace with the idea that our inner world is much more complex than what we will probably ever be able to communicate. We also need to accept that our words create ripples in other people's minds beyond what we can imagine.

Describing the unique emotional details that we associate with our thoughts might help to communicate them.

References:

• Pinker, S. 1994. The language instinct. New York: William Morrow & Company.
• Mabry, J. H. (1995). Review of Pinker's the language instinct. The Analysis of Verbal Behavior; 12: 87–96.
• Inspired by: Tsar, Joseph. 2023-11-03. Why you can't articulate like you think [video]. URL: https://youtu.be/TGulVSE_5FY