[extropy-chat] book: Paddling my Own Canoe by Sutherland

[Adrian Tymes]

--- Hal Finney <hal at finney.org> wrote:
> Imagine a human baby who is somehow raised without
> any of this.  He lives
> in a natural environment which is so benign that he
> is able to survive.
> It may be a challenging and interesting world, one
> to test and stimulate
> his mind and body.  But he never hears a human word
> and never sees a
> human being.
> 
> This person, when grown, would not really be a human
> being as we think
> of one.  He would have no language, other than
> perhaps some rudimentary
> mental patterns he might construct himself.  He
> would not be able to
> think about abstractions and reason with logic the
> way we can.  He would,
> in truth, be deeply crippled, and mentally damaged.

Sadly, one doesn't have to imagine it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feral_child