I think we can all agree that mankind learned to speak before he learned to think.

(November 25, 2023 at 10:07 am)Angrboda Wrote: I think we can all agree that mankind learned to speak before he learned to think.

And this echoes down to Twitter.

"Recent work with deaf readers show that skilled deaf readers’ eye movements when they read simple sentences are very different from those of hearing readers of comparable reading skills. Deaf readers are more efficient when they read sentences compared to hearing readers with equal comprehension levels. For example, skilled deaf readers make fewer fixations in a sentence. This means that each time their eyes land on a word (called a “fixation”), skilled deaf readers are able to grab more information within that fixation. Skilled deaf readers also go back in the text (reread) less often than hearing readers do. This shows that even if deaf readers make fewer fixations than hearing readers do, they also do not need to go back in the text as often as their hearing counterpart to check their comprehension".

Some people can read very fast because they do not vocalise (in their mind) what they read.

When I was working in a laboratory I was asked to look through some calculations because there were "mistakes somewhere". I was handed half a dozen pages of handwritten material. I just quickly glanced at each page ... identified three mistakes ... and handed them back.

When people make mistakes their handwriting changes.

Combine that with the knowledge that deaf readers take far longer to reach those equal comprehension levels and that up to half of us have no inner voice in the first place. Bizarre.

Week old babies were placed in a dark cot. It was arranged for a light to come on for a short period of time when the baby made a certain move.

Babies like light.

There were three reactions to this:

About 5% of them, after a few seconds thinking about what had happened, made the move that brought on the light.

The others were divided into two approximately equal groups:

Those who, after a period of time, worked out what movement brought on the light.

Those who never did ..and tended to get upset about what was going on.

"The two greatest frauds in history were Jesus and Mohammed"

Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor 1564-1576

He said this in private correspondence to like minded notables, including other rulers.

He used his authority to seek to curb the religious strive going on at the time.

Someone else, during the same period, said:

"There are three factions: Protestants, Catholics, and Atheists, and the Atheists are by far the majority"

Martin Luther said:

"These people should be killed wherever they can be found".

He was talking about Atheists.

In the latter part of the 14th century it is said that there was more atheist-style thinking going on (that there is "no God") in England than there was over the next 400 years. This freedom of thought was suppressed in the early 15th century.

And the point of this is what?

Quote:There is no world other than this;
There is no heaven and no hell;
The realm of Shiva and like regions,
are fabricated by stupid imposters.

circa 1kbc

Definitely known to westerners, via the silk road, by 1ad or earlier (consensus is 200bc).

2400 years ago:

Wait, do you mean to tell me that babies learn? Really?!