By the way it might interest you to know that the first use of the idea of the "theory of mind" (it should be called "the theory of the other mind") was in primatology.  The discovery that Chimps (later Bonobos) could actually orient things so that the point-of-view of another chimp (or human) was taken into account was considered a remarkable discovery.  Essentially experiments have proved that chimps know when other chimps or humans don't know when things are hidden, etc.  It was only after the notion of the "theory of mind" made its way through some of the primatology literature that it was picked up by philosophers.  The beginnings of the theory of mind debate for any who are interested is well covered in Davies, M. and Stone T., eds., 1995, Folk Psychology: The Theory of Mind Debate.  Given the origins of the idea that each of us has a theory of the other's mind I have always found it amusing how "theory of mind" has factored into the debate over "Animal Consciousness". Anyone who is interested in this can read this article in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy <a href="http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/consciousness-animal/">http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/consciousness-animal/ </a> <div>On 5/3/06, Jim Devine <<a href="mailto:jdevine03@gmail.com">jdevine03@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;"> On 5/3/06, Carrol Cox <<a href="mailto:cbcox@ilstu.edu">cbcox@ilstu.edu</a>> wrote: > Wojtek suffers from a serious defect of imagination. He honestly cannot > conceive, even hypothetically, of anyone disagreeing with him. Hence > when someone doesm it has to be due to some character defect or > dishonest motive... >The "theory of mind" is quite simply, the ability to think about one's own mind and the mind of another. It is called a "theory" because, at best, when we think about what may be going on in the mind of another person it is an educated guess. Some people [including Simon Baron-Cohen, cousin of Ali G] have referred to this ability as "mind reading". Probably this is an accurate description. >[Neurotypical] Children as young as age three or four can already "read minds". That is, they are able to know that others have different thoughts than they do, they know that others may not know everything they do, and they can guess what another may think or do about something they do, say, or even think. They are not perfect at this, hence you may get a child who makes up fantastic stories in order to cover up what they actually did ( e.g., "The dog ate my homework."). >How this applies to autism is that researchers have found the theory of mind to be an area of deficiency for most people with autism and Asperger's Syndrome. < [from <a href="http://groups.msn.com/TheAutismHomePage/theoryofmind.msnw">http://groups.msn.com/TheAutismHomePage/theoryofmind.msnw</a> ] >[The theory of an absence of a] Theory of mind [among those with autism] refers to the notion that many autistic individuals do not understand that other people have their own plans, thoughts, and points of view. Furthermore, it appears that they have difficulty understanding other people's beliefs, attitudes, and emotions. >Many of the tasks used to test this theory have been given to non-autistic children as well as children with mental retardation, and the [lack of a] theory of mind phenomenon appears to be unique to those with autism. In addition, [the presence or absence of] theory of mind appears to be independent of intelligence even though people with Asperger's syndrome exhibit this problem to a lesser degree. >Interestingly, people with autism have difficulty comprehending when others don't know something. It is quite common, especially for those with savant abilities [for example, those seen in the Dustin Hoffman character in the fictional film "Rainman"], to become upset when asking a question of a person to which the person does not know the answer. >By not understanding that other people think differently than themselves, many autistic individuals may have problems relating socially and communicating to other people. That is, they may not be able to anticipate what others will say or do in various situations. In addition, they may have difficulty understanding that their peers or classmates even have thoughts and emotions, and may thus appear to be self-centered, eccentric, or uncaring. >Although this is an egocentric view of the world, there is nothing in the [lack of a] theory of mind to imply that autistic individuals feel superior to others. < [from "Theory of Mind"  by Stephen M. Edelson, Ph.D., Center for the Study of Autism, Salem, Oregon <a href="http://www.autism.org/mind.html">http://www.autism.org/mind.html</a>] I am not saying that WS has autism or Asperger's Syndrome, since e-mail tends to produce autistic tendencies in us all. And there is nothing wrong with being autistic. After all, such luminaries as Albert Einstein and Bill Gates may have (had) it. I have a tad of autism (mild Asperger's syndrome) myself. -- Jim Devine /  "Economics is extremely useful as a form of employment for economists." -- John Kenneth Galbraith. ___________________________________ <a href="http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk"> http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk</a> </blockquote></div> -- Jerry Monaco's Philosophy, Politics, Culture Weblog is Shandean Postscripts to Politics, Philosophy, and Culture <a href="http://monacojerry.livejournal.com/">http://monacojerry.livejournal.com/</a> His fiction, poetry, weblog is Hopeful Monsters: Fiction, Poetry, Memories <a href="http://www.livejournal.com/users/jerrymonaco/"> http://www.livejournal.com/users/jerrymonaco/</a> Notes, Quotes, Images - From some of my reading and browsing <a href="http://www.livejournal.com/community/jerry_quotes/">http://www.livejournal.com/community/jerry_quotes/ </a>