Nobody knows the cause of stuttering. It affects about 3% of the adult male population and 1% of the female, has no known physiological cause, does not appear to be genetic, and psychotherapy famously does not work on it. Unless the state of knowledge has changed since I studied this subject 15 years ago.
(I used to stutter in childhood and it reappeared from nowhere in my early 20s, so I researched it a lot at the time. Then it vanished again when I was about 26. reappearing magically every few years since then until now, when it's gone except when I'm under extreme stress.)
I have no idea if Newton was a childhood stutterer, though.
It's a weird disorder. Some people stutter only at the beginning of a word. Some, only after a prefix. Some, only on certain letters or certain words. Some people only do it when speaking in public; some people, only when speaking in private (Bruce Willis being the obvious example). Some don't when they sing or read aloud; others do. Some people don't when they are using a fake voice, e.g., Marilyn Monroe, James Earl Jones, and Rowan Atkinson, all of whom have their distinctive odd speech styles as a result of a stuttering coping mechanism, exaggerated enunciation.
----- Original Message ---- From: Eubulides <paraconsistent at comcast.net> Insecurity is the explanandum. One or more neuropathologies are the explanans. My best guess, based on what I've read of his life, is that as an adult he suffered from Pick's disease. As we learn more about mitochondrial myopathies in the brain we'll be able to make better guesses.
Ian ___________________________________ http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk