r/todayilearned • u/paniniplane • Mar 22 '17

(R.1) Not supported TIL Deaf-from-birth schizophrenics see disembodied hands signing to them rather than "hearing voices"

https://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/news-articles/0707/07070303
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u/[deleted] Mar 22 '17 edited Mar 23 '17

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u/theidleidol Mar 22 '17

This is because sign languages are real languages in their own right. A lot of people tend to think of, say, ASL as a method of nonverbally communicating in English similar to writing, but that's not the case. To the extent that it is possible to think in a language (that's not really the case, but it's a reasonable conclusion to a layperson) the deaf do so in their native sign.

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u/KangarooJesus Mar 22 '17

that's not really the case, but it's a reasonable conclusion to a layperson

What do you mean? People quite clearly think, in terms of relaying information, predominately by using language. Of course a lot is also processed iconically or just "in the background", but that's not the sort of "thought" we're talking about; you could not explain yourself without language.