>
> Another observation, what does the ability to distinguish between
> "animate" and "inanimate" have to do with anything? Assuming that
> children indeed acquire that distinction on their own, as opposed to
> being taught it by adults - that does not have anything to do with
> philosophical arguments about existence of the world outside human
> consciousness etc. It is quite possible that children can
> extrapolate that distinction from their own experience even before
> they can interact with adults in an interpretable way e.g. by
> extrapolating something that moves and something that does not, or
> something that is like them (i.e. moving on its own) and everything
> else (i.e. not moving). It proves only that people acquire the
> ability to distinguish between different category of objects early in
> their lives and possibly without adult assistance (but the latter
> cannot be ruled out with certainty) and NOTHING beyond that.
>
When I was quite young, I deduced that dog was a spaniel, and she's black (and white).
[bada boom]
It was quite a revelation... and it's been my guiding light throughout my adult years....
Leigh Meyers leighcmeyers at yahoo.com
Leigh www.leighm.net
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