Thought

Ask people what they use their brains for and most will probably answer think. Yes, thought is a very important function of our minds, a process that has inspired hundreds of words.

I've divided roughly 300 words into seven categories. The introduction introduces some basic concepts and signs, such as brain, mind, knowledge, logic, think and know.

Intelligence focuses on words that describe people's intelligence (or lack thereof), such as smart, intelligent and dumb. Learning addresses words associated with the learning process, such as learn, study and teach. Time tackles words associated with the past (e.g. remember) and the future (e.g. foresee).

Dream State examines some of the more exicting words: dream, hallucination, extrasensory perception and more. Mental Health includes words like retarded, paranoid and schizophrenic.

Many more words can be found in the last section, Miscellaneous.

Introduction

As the table below indicates, the same sign (a very easy one) is used to indicate the words brain, mind and mental, and that sign is the same on three online ASL dictionaries.

The sign for knowledge appears to be identical to that for brain/mind, except that one taps the forehead with multiple fingers rather than the index finger alone.

Intellect is the most confusing of the signs focused on the head, in my opinion, but it really isn't that hard. Wit appears to be identical or similar to the sign for funny. Common sense is an initialized sign and is pretty easy to remember. ASL Pro and Signing Savvy show similar yet distinct signs for logic.

Curiosity is an odd sign and is identical to the sign for curious.

ASL Pro and Signing Savvy show identical signs for personality. If I'm not mistaken, morale utilizes the same sign one would use when asking "How are you?" except that you wouldn't point at another person. As I suspected, the signs for instinct and intuition appear to be the same. They are signed lower on the body.

Finally, what are the most basic things we do with the mind?

The sign for think is very simple, resembling the sign for brain/mind, except that ASL Pro and Masters Tech show the index finger making a circle, while the other sites just show the index finger touching the head. When signing thinking or thought, the fingers describe a circle, though Signing Savvy lists a second version in which the signer merely touches the head. In the table below, aqua marks signs that involve a circling motion, while the darker blue signifies a simple touch to the head.

ASL Pro and Signing Savvy both illustrate ponder with a single index finger making a circling motion, but the latter adds a double-handed gesture near the body. ASL Pro, Signing Savvy and HandSpeak all how a signer circling the index finger near the forehead as the sign for wonder, but ASL Pro's version uses both hands.

Overall, the signs for think, thinking, thought, ponder and wonder appear to be the same or very similar, depending on which versions you use. Idea is a pretty simple sign that four websites agree on.

As near as I can tell, all five websites agree on know, which is signed by tapping the forehead with the fingers of the right hand. I think the sharp dropping motion on Signing Savvy is merely the signer returning to the "starting" position at the end of the clip. Note that ASL Pro's signer is also shaking her head yes, which makes it my favorite version. See the ASL University and Master's Tech pages for some more comments about this sign. And in case you didn't notice, know appears to be the same sign as brain/mind, except that the latter is signed by touching the head with the index finger only. (Thank you HandSpeak for showing us how to sign "I know that" and "I don't know that.")

All five websites show the same sign for understand, except that ASL Pro's signer flicks her finger twice, rather than once, and shakes her head "yes."

Learning

If we agree that teach, learn and study are the three most important words in this category, then this section is going to be a breeze. As the table below indicates, all five websites (or at least four of them) recognize the same sign for each of these words, with one minor exception. Master's Tech says that the sign for teach should end with the hands open.

Instruct is represented by the same signs as teacher, except that ASL Pro's signer sticks her pinkies up while signing. Signing Savvy and Master's Tech use the same signs yet again for educate, while ASL Pro's version is a little different still.

The sign for learn can also be used to indicate learned and learning. (I don't understand what HandSpeak means by "learn-from.")

The four signs for memorize I checked are identical, except that Signing Savvy touches the forehead with the index finger only. It says memorize consists of the signs for think + hold. Since ASL Pro and Master's Tech use a circling motion when signing think, I wonder if memorize actually equals mind + hold. Four websites reach a concensus on remember, using the same sign ASL Pro uses for memory. The odd man out is Master's Tech, which describes a different sign for remember.

I'm not sure exactly what ASL Pro's "brainstorm - ideas" and HandSpeak's "brainstorm" are supposed to mean, but they use different signs.

All five websites use the same sign for understand except that ASL Pro's signer flickers her index finger twice while shaking her head "yes." Signing Savvy uses the same sign for understand, understands and understandable. HandSpeak signs understandable with two flicks of the finger, similar to ASL Pro's sign for understand.

Confusion

The three signs for confuse are all similar yet distinct. The signs for misconception, misunderstand and misunderstood are all essentially the same, perhaps with some minor differences between websites. "Blank mind" and "mind-blanked" appear to mean the same thing; the signs for them are identical.

Intelligence

So what have we learned so far?

Of course, knowledge is measured with words like smart, or intelligent. Virtually all the signs for both words are identical (and very simple - flicking a finger off the forehead), except that some emphasize the middle finger, others the index finger. The middle finger is used in the AP and MT signs for intelligent and in the AP, HS and the first of two SS signs for smart. All the others use the index finger (which I will refer to as the one-fingered salute). To make that a little easier to remember, I've highlighted all the signs using the middle finger aqua, while all the index finger signs are highlighted light blue.

Signing Savvy offers the same one-fingered salute for adroit, brilliant, clever and ingenious. ASL Pro features two signs for brilliant. However, I think they refer to brilliant objects (e.g. lights) rather than the mind. ASL Pro and ASL University use the middle finger salute for clever.

In a stroke of genius, AP and SS agree on the sign for that word. AP's sign for literate apparently combines the signs can + write, while HS' sign omits can. SS and MT offer the same sign for wisdom. SS also offers a second sign that's identical to its signs for intelligent and smart. AP, SS and MT agree on the sign for wise, which is identical to SS' first sign for wisdom. SS' sign for wise is the same as its second sign for wisdom.

AP and HS apparently use identical signs for dumb. They are more passive than the signs used by SS and AS, which is nevertheless similar. Four websites offer the same sign for stupid, except that HandSpeak's signer places the V over the eye, rather than the forehead. Signing Savvy offers another sign, which is identical to the sign for dumb.

SS offers a sign for clueless which is pretty easy to remember, along with a sign for feeble minded. SS and AS offer identical signs for moron. Ironically, it makes me feel like a moron, because I don't get it - unless it has something to do with the sign's similarity to the sign for government. See ASL University's account for more information.

Finally, we finish with three distinct signs for idiot.

Speaking of idiots, I was going to add ASL Pro's sign for "out to lunch" to this discussion until I realized it literally means out to lunch!

Time

When you try to remember, or recall, something your mind is reaching back in time. Similarly, we can anticipate, predict or possibly even foretell the future.

Unfortunately, our journey through time doesn't start out smoothly. The first of two signs for memory offered by HandSpeak agrees with Signing Savvy. But the second sign is different, and ASL Pro's is more different still. In contrast, the four signs for memorize I checked are identical, except that Signing Savvy touches the forehead with the index finger only. It says memorize consists of the signs for think + hold. Since ASL Pro and Master's Tech use a circling motion when signing think, I wonder if memorize actually equals mind + hold.

Finally, four websites reach a concensus on remember, using the same sign ASL Pro uses for memory. The odd man out is Master's Tech, which describes a different sign for remember.

Signing Savvy offers definitions for recall, recollect and recollection. Recall and recollection are the same, suggesting a person looking over the shoulder into the past, except that the signer doesn't touch his eye when signing recall. The first of two signs for recollect is the same sign used for remember. The second sign for recollect is the same as the sign for recollection.

AP and SS offer identical signs for retrospect, which matches the sign for recollection - touching the eye with one's fingers before using them to peer over the shoulder into the past. This sign is repeated again in hindsight.

The sign for forget is very similar to the sign for memorize, except that one touches the forehead with the palm of the hand, rather than the fingertips, then moves the hand more sharply to the side. It looks like you're erasing your mind. AP, SS and AS agree on this sign, with AS also offering a second sign. The same sign is used for forgot and forgetful, according to SS.

ASL Pro offers three separate signs for anticipate, none of which resemble any other signs in this section. AP, SS and HS feature three different signs for predict, though all incorporate the sign for see. SS and HS use identical or very similar signs for foresee, which is the same as SS' version of predict. This sign is repeated yet again in forecast.

Add: adroit, brilliant, clever, educate, favorite, forecast, genius, hindsight, instruct, psychology, psychologist, psychiatry, psychiatrist, recall, recollect, recollection, reminisce and retrospect.

Delete: objective (noun) and remorse.

H2

x

m

H2

x

m

Bill Gates = eduphilanthropreneurs

ASL Pro
Signing Savvy (Firefox?)
HandSpeak (Firefox?)
Bill Vicars (ASLU)
MastersTech

ego

Support this site.

Linking to this site
(Free Images!)

Google Knols: Bill Gates | Wikipedia | Great Depression II

The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism - Paperback