Language Is the Scaffold of the Mind

The lack of language affects even functions like math. Keeping track of exact numbers above four requires knowing the words for these numbers. The language-number interdependency means many deaf children in industrialized societies fall behind in math because they did not learn to count.

Social cognition is another part of your mind that needs language to develop. Why is your mom upset? Understanding social situations requires inferring what people around you are thinking.

Language can disappear after severe damage to the brain. It is known as aphasia - the inability to understand or produce speech.

Research on adults with aphasia has demonstrated that math, theory of mind, and other cognitive abilities are independent from language. Patients with aphasia perform comparably to the rest of us when asked to complete arithmetic tasks, reason about people's intentions, determine physical causes of actions, or decide whether a drawing represents a real-life event. Some can continue with creative tasks.

In adults, language is separate from other functions of the brain.

Our language is but a scaffold for our minds. It is indispensable during the formative years but can be done away with once the building is in place.