As Doug has pointed out, language is a system. I like to think of the metaphor of idea space where the words both defines the space and is embedded in the space. If one includes math as a language, there is a strong arguement that there are no ideas apart from language. Indeed most people who state "I have a great idea, I just can't put it into words" actually have a vauge idea they think is great, that may even have the potential to be great, but isn't fleshed out.
I pretty much agree with the rest of your post, but I disagree about this point.
Yes, sometimes have ideas with potential but that are not fleshed out, but there
are other circumstances where someone can actually have a great idea but
honestly have trouble translating it into written or spoken words (or other
equivalent symbols).
For example, as a composer, I sometimes think in sound. Most of the time if I hear
a certain melody or harmony or tone color in my head, I can translate that to written
music or synthesizer settings or code in c-sound, but sometimes I hear one of the above
(especially tone colors) that I can't translate immediately into any written, verbal, or
"setting" form.
Sometimes I think in images. For example, I might be able to see in my head the
way I want to rearrange furniture in a room. But sometimes I have trouble
translating that to a drawn map, or verbalizing it well enough for my wife to
understand what I'm saying. It may be a great idea for how to organize that
space, but I can't find a way to put it into words that my wife will understand.
Maybe that's a flaw in my linguistic ability, or maybe I'm describing it adequately
but my wife doesn't understand, or maybe it's a combination of those and other
factors. But it does happen sometimes. (And I certainly don't mean to imply
that it can't and doesn't happen the other way as well, where my wife is trying
to describe something and I just don't get it.)
Sometimes people are just not as articulate as they'd like to be, and honestly can't
put a good or great idea into words. It happens to me more that I'd like to admit.
Reggie Bautista
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