================================================ Subject: Re: Meaning of life according to Ewa part 2 From: "Creed - 7M3 - Live" To: Date: Mon 21 May 2001 19:48:43 -0400 ================================================ I watched a series on PBS in the mid 80's that covered a wide range of brain functions. There were a lot on the senses and what part of the brain is usually associated with each sense. Anyway, they showed experiments where they would use a sort of matrix of vibrating pins that would vibrate the grid in places that the camera saw dark and light differences. Apparently, the sense of touch would learn to communicate with the usual visual area of the brain and transmit the image into a representation of an image with outline. They also more recently have numbed a cat. (sounds cruel, but may help the ones that can't see in the future) and placed electrodes in certain spots on the surface of the brain and have been able to decode the images that the cat's eye actually sees. I guess a person that has never saw since birth though would have only an idea of whatever someone described vision as. A non-hearing person would probably only know the vibrations of the part of sound that can be felt as a vibration. (Low frequency). so the sense of touch and vibration seem to be the senses that most people depend on that loose either one of the other two senses. Also, I find those that are extremely paralyzed an extreme accomplishment. I remember a person that joined this list was extremely paralyzed. I cannot imagine the struggle that the person has to go through. Though I admire their strength against such great challenges. Sorry off topic myself. But a hope for those that don't have all that we usually take for granted. Later, Jim ----------------- Tara wrote: >Sort of off topic, but you reminded me of questions I've been thinking about >for years, starting with reading a book about Helen Keller as a kid. How do >people who are born blind and deaf make their associations with the world? >As an aspiring teacher, it astounds me as to how someone can teach someone >who has neither the concept of sight nor sound to understand what they're >trying to teach, and eventually to speak. Of course, it might be more >understandable to me if I had more knowledge of visual and hearing >impairment, but my area of concentration has been psychology. >Another thing I wonder about is how newborn babies think. When Dustin was >born, I could tell that he was thinking... but what was he thinking about? >Having no language, how did he think? What about before he was born? If >all he heard was whatever muted sounds passed through my stomach, and all he >saw was dim light, what did he think about? Maybe that's why I'm so >enthralled with the idea of working with children... they start out with >just the very basic connections in their brains, and now, 7 months after >Dustin's birth, it amazes me at how much he's learned. I think it would be >impossible for an adult to learn the same volume of information in the same >time period (especially once you go into the scientific aspects of the >neural pathways that infants have that we lose as we grow older if they're >not used). It's very interesting (in my opinion) to think about how infants >start with pretty much nothing, and trying to figure out HOW they learn, >considering that they don't really have anything to build on. (For example, >if I were to take a course in college, I'd be building on knowledge I >already have... even if it's something totally unrelated to anything I've >ever studied before). Again, it's late, I'm tired, and I don't know if I'm >coming across clearly or not, so I'll end this post here. > >Tara > -- "And what will you do when you grow up to be as big as me?" asked the father of his little son. "Diet." To unsubscribe or change your preferences for the Creed-Discuss list, visit: http://www.winduplist.com/ls/discuss/form.asp