narrow minded, how can we possibly have any idea? Our dog understands over 10 distinct phrases "walkies", "Are you hungry?", "Do you want a biscuit?" etc ... but is she understanding English? No, I would suggest reacting to past experiences of what happened when we last said "walkies". Like dogs, many animals I would suspect `live in the now`, does a Lion `think` I'm hungry, let's go and kill an antelope ... Or instinctively know to do it which is where animals differ. We instinctively know to change into second gear in a car, after a while you don't `think` declutch, move my arm, accelerate etc .. It just happens, the area for instinct in an animal is no doubt far more developed than ours. Does a Japanese Macaque `think` "I know, I'll have a relaxing bath and ponder the wonders of the universe", no I don't think they do. Comment number 46. (With reference to KateCopestake, 32). I'll grant you may not think about things in a (natural) language, or by pictures but by some other medium. I doubt many would agree that I think in English as quickly as I write this message. However, when you say you think in concepts, this is essentially tied to your use of language. How do you learn such concepts? How do you think about anything if you have not already learnt about what that thing is? Monkeys can learn certain things, so can cats and so can rats. However, this learning