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What would existence be like for a child born with no senses? (idea)
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(
idea
)
by
SourKey
Mon Apr 22 2002 at 21:47:55
A child born without senses would really have no
cognitive functions
whatsoever. I say this because
the brain
would have absolutely no
input
on which to
calibrate
thought
.
I possess all five classical
senses
. I can
reproduce
any of them as a thought, if I try hard enough, but like most people, I tend to
think
in
sounds
or
images
. But what of a child without senses? If one has
lacked vision
since birth, can one
produce an image
in one's head? If one cannot hear, can one think in
spoken word
? I would
imagine
not, because the brain has never had input of this type. If you can't hear, then obviously you can't think to yourself in any
vocal tongue
.
Being only
blind and deaf
would be a
damning burden
, but you might still be able to
function
. Surely there are people in the world who could
cope
with this and find a way to
communicate
and
share knowledge
through the senses of
taste
,
touch
, and
smell
. But what if you then
remove
these? Now you have a person who
cannot see
,
cannot hear
,
cannot feel, taste, or smell
. What you have here is
not a person
; he or she is, in essence,
a life-sized, anatomically correct and functional doll
. The brain is not functioning at all, except to keep the
inner workings
of the
body
working.
To
answer
the question
of "What would
existence
be like for a child born with no senses?", I can only say that it wouldn't be "like" anything. There would be no
experiences
, no
thoughts
, no
self-awareness
. Much as a
corpse
is no longer the person that once dwelled in it, there would be no "child," just a
shell
.
Humans have six senses, why does everyone think we only have five?
The boy with just a head and a burlap sack for a body
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We only use 10% of our brain
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Mental masturbation
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behavior disorder
Scott
The lowest spiritual common denominator
deinstitutionalization
temporarily able-bodied
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Deaf and dumb
mook
faleste