Agreed. It's not for nothing we talk about "thinking out loud". That suggests that there is some kind of vague awareness that thinking and speaking are not fundamentally different activities (compare: "feeling aroused/jealous out loud" which doesn't even make sense)
Sometimes I wonder if human acquired the ability to "silently" think thoughts only recently. That the ability to silently think evolved much like how the ability to silently read evolved (even today I sometimes run into country folks who have little ability to read without audibly reading, or cannot transfer their password from phone to computer without broadcasting it to everyone around)
Presumably audible thinking and audible reading were the original forms. Then silent thinking and silent reading evolved because of their obvious utility (it's fitness enhancing to be able to hide your thoughts from your enemy blah blah)
Fascinating comment all around. I fully agree. It never occurred to me that “silent thinking” and “silent reading” are relatively new phenomena. But after reading this comment it’s so obvious that they are.
Sometimes I wonder if human acquired the ability to "silently" think thoughts only recently. That the ability to silently think evolved much like how the ability to silently read evolved (even today I sometimes run into country folks who have little ability to read without audibly reading, or cannot transfer their password from phone to computer without broadcasting it to everyone around)
Presumably audible thinking and audible reading were the original forms. Then silent thinking and silent reading evolved because of their obvious utility (it's fitness enhancing to be able to hide your thoughts from your enemy blah blah)