[Ham] We have long passed the 'Noble Savage' concept of Rousseau but, in the manner of Hegel's 'thesis-antithesis' principle, have swung in the opposite direction. Now psychologists, sociologists, and philosophers want to make a
case for the "blank slate" individual who, in the absence of nurturing by society, is unable to intellectualize, form concepts, or even think. [Krimel] I don't think there are all that many folks on either extreme among the experts. Most have staked out positions somewhere around the center. Studies, of the scanty evidence of the few sad case of 'feral' children or children who have suffered extreme neglect or hearing children of deaf parents, all point to a biological basis and developmental window of opportunity for language development. This is bolstered by the fact that the older people get, the more difficulty we have learning additional languages. [Ham] Given the postmodern "collectivist" ideology, and the egalitarian mindset of academia, it is quite likely that such conclusions have been biased by the current trends. [Krimel] I think it is wrong to see hidden political ideology behind every bush. It smacks of paranoia. The "egalitarian" mindset, such as it is, emerged from the abandonment of the racist mindset that preceded it. I don't see how postmodernism connects to collectivism even tangentially. Perhaps you could explain that. [Ham] This issue is somewhat akin to the debate over Darwin's evolution theory: there are arguments on either side, and the prevailing opinion largely depends on the weltanschauung of the moment. [Krimel] Arguments over Darwin have mainly been about timing and the exact mechanisms that decided particular epochs or the development of particular species. Darwin's theory has been "the weltanschauung of the moment" for almost 150 years. [Ham] Clearly a child with normal neurological development has the innate capacity to conceptualize, discriminate, and form judgments, whether he/she has had the opportunity to fine-tune and master these skills or not. In any case, I find Ron's assertion that "our intellectual thoughts are dictated by grammar" to be an extreme position that defies common sense and is unsupported by empirical evidence. [Krimel] I may have a stroke here. We are almost on the same page. I suspect we part ways when it comes to how "the opportunities are fine-tuned" and the influence of socialization on "mastery of these skills." But let's just enjoy the moment. Shall we? Moq_Discuss mailing list Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org Archives: http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/
