Aphasia Patients Still Do Algebra: Evidence That Language Isn't Thinking
ctjlewis · x · 2026-10-04
Countering the claim that "models talk with labels, not think," the poster cites counterexamples: people with global aphasia who can't parse sentences still solve algebra and logic puzzles; composer Shebalin kept writing symphonies after strokes wiped out his language; fMRI shows the language network barely activates during math or code. Takeaway: language is for communication, not necessarily for thinking.
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