> From: thomas malloy > > Steven Johnson posted > > > In my book: Recognizing one's "self" is to recognize > > the existence of one's soul. The fact that they may > > not be capable of reading Hebrew is a trivial factor > > in the greater scheme of things. > > > > I can't read Hebrew either. > > I can't make the leap from recognizing one's self and > the recognition of a soul.
Yes, that much is obvious. > My point about Hebrew was that there is a correlation > between reading and Hebrew and intellectual ability. > Learning to do it is quite a challenge. I have no doubt that learning to read Hebrew is a challange. Let me try from a different angle, though I suspect it won't help. There is a story told where one day in a primate lab where they taught a gorilla sign language, (I believe it was Koko), a visiting researcher stopped by to pay his regards. They introduced the eager researcher to Koko. He had some knowledge of sign language and attempted to carry on a conversation with Koko. It soon became clear however that the researcher's grasp of sign language was not as experienced as that of Koko or of the researchers who regularly communicated with Koko. Koko grasped this problem and did what any creature possessing empathy would do under the circumstances. She deliberately slowed down the execution of her use of sign language in an attempt to help the researcher keep up with her thoughts. In my book, empathy is another aspect of one of g-d's creatures possessing a soul. I don't know sign language either. Apologies to Koko. Regards, Steven Vincent Johnson www.OrionWorks.com
