I can imagine they would starve pretty quickly, but if they were fed then they would begin to develop a language of sorts and would possibly believe that whoever was feeding them was some sort of "god".
That's kind of what I was thinking. It's weird though. Like imagine if all of us right know were being watched like this and we were all part of this experiment
Well if you are religious at all I guess it kind of is, but more like a test to see if you can get into heaven or go to hell (or whatever other religions equivalent)
Well I can say in all honesty that in a way we sort of are, all our social interactions etc are all studied scientifically, obviously not to the extremes of the baby in a room example but most things we do and say now are recorded somewhere
You should watch a movie called 'the experiment' it's based on an actual experiment done in the 70s, it's pretty freaky and reveals a lot about human nature
Sorry to burst your bubble, but they would not develop their own language. A similar experiment was down where all the babies were cared for and not spoken to, and instead of speaking a language, they all died.
Yep that movie :).
And rice pudding, would they not (if they somehow survived) form some way of communicating with eachother e.g grunting, maybe hand gestures?
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· 10 years ago
No, because young children need exposure to language for their brains to form properly. It's how we've evolved.
There was a king who was convinced babies would speak some ancient language if they weren't corrupted by "modern" languages. He had some kept in a room and they were fed but they were never spoken to or touched. They died not long after. For humans touch and language are primal needs.
Sounds a bit like Plato's Allegory of the Cave. How would their perception of the world develop? Would they create a new language? Depending on how soon they were put in the room how would their time before entering the room affect their thoughts and actions inside of it?
............Was I the only one who wanted to try it after reading the first part?
Wasn't there a similar experiment once? Scientists took a few babies away from their mothers and let them sleep in a room together. There were women who feed them but they were not allowed to speak to them or hug them or anything. All of them died.
I think you are thinking of of one Mendel's experiments during the Nazi reign. The things he did in the name of science were truly awful, awful things.
There was something I saw that said they took a bunch of people who didn't speak the same language and put them on an island and they made up a language. Dunno if it happened or not.
Ever heard of Genie Wiley, anyone? She was locked in a room for thirteen years. When they finally found her, she was 13 years old and had the mind of a 18 month old child. I'd give you a link if I can think of what it was called right now...
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· 10 years ago
Yes, that's the sad reality of neglected children. Babies literally need affection to survive and thrive.
And rice pudding, would they not (if they somehow survived) form some way of communicating with eachother e.g grunting, maybe hand gestures?
............Was I the only one who wanted to try it after reading the first part?