I am a hearing person with little knowledge of the subject, so I can’t to say much. However, I think, you’ve forgotten that an American-born deaf person, for example, would read and write and maybe speak American English even if they also used ASL, which is a completely discreet language. So they would be as fluent in English as you and me, and bilingual, too.

I don’t think we think in language, really, because language is basically a really clunky and limited way to get ideas to fly through meat space into someone else’s head. Finding the right way to say things is hard, isn’t it? I think we maybe anchor ideas to certain words and use words as touchstones to remind us of stuff while we are in thought, because it’s hard to focus on a lot of really complex ideas at once. But I think communication with yourself is quicker than communication with others (besides how long the act takes physically) because you don’t have to *explain* stuff to yourself and you never misunderstand what you mean? All the context is there and you can take shortcuts. (But really I don’t know anything on this subject either.)

I don’t really have an answer for this, but it made me think of something I read a while ago: blind people dream in colour. Don’t know if that would interest you, or if it’s even factual (hey, a lot of the things on the internet aren’t real) but just thought I’d share it.

Good question, by the way.

I’ve wondered about this so much before. Additionally, those animals intelligent enough to show basic signs of consciousness must have some method/mechanism of thought as well. Does anyone know what that is?