Do Children Have "Consciousness" As We Know It?
Posted: Thu Jun 22, 2006 6:40 am
My answer is quite simply no.
Caveat lector, my friends.
First and foremost, let us consider the clues. A child (and my definition of the term will stretch from newborn to what you may call a toddler, although I prefer citing a toddler as someone who does have, as you shall see, conscious thoughts and feelings).
1.) Let's pretend for a moment that a child's brain is like that of a sponge. Imagine, if you can, the big, wide-open world as it must appear to a newborn. Every thing, from every object that comes into focus, to every tiny spasm of a muscle to every laugh or frown, is absorbed into the child's brain. It isn't like when an adult reads a book, and we gain knew knowledge that either supplements or replaces previous data, but rather the spectrum of existence, of their interactions big or small with the world around them is catalogued. I feel that most forget this aspect of a child's life, or don't think too much of it, but if you dwell on it you'll find how truly remarkable this is. Every beam of light and flash of color needs to be stored mentally so later in life they can access said things and react to them accordingly.
2.) Now, let's then jump ahead a few years when a child may be walking and/or talking. It eventually gets to the point when a sponge (as well as the child's brain) becomes engorged and to the point when nothing else will fit. It is at this point, I theorize, that the child's brain, nay their consciousness, 'flicks on' and they are able to process every motor skill and piece of raw data they have compiled thus far. I feel that it is impossible for a child (until they reach that point of being able to understand every aspect of reality as their body is now part of) to become conscious and make conscious choices/decisions. When their mind is 'ready,' so to speak, they are able as any adult, with much less real-world experience, of course, to face their future.
3.) Some or many of you may disagree, being proud parents yourselves, remembering when your child was young and you remarked, "What a personality/temper/joyous allure he/she has!" This would be grossly incorrect. To claim that a child has a personality simply because they are reacting to the world around them is just plain false. As Dr. Jaynes spoke of, children are, then, reacting to basic animalistic urges. They may or may not be experiencing audio/visual hallucinations, but they survive solely because of 'learned, conditioned-behaviors.' Think for a moment when a toddler may stretch his/her arm out to reach a knife that has been placed on the countertop. A parent will slap the child's hand and shout "NO!" over and over to emphasize the point. (This may need to be repeated a few times for the child to understand.) Many might think that indeed the child has learned knives and the like are bad and are not to be meddled with. I disagree. If my above hypothesis is correct, and a child does not have consciousness, what they are experiencing is much to the extent that Pavlov's dogs did. An action is being reinforced negatively and they eventually associate reaching up for that sharp knife as something that will bring them pain. A child being told not to touch a knife may indeed go into the next room and touch a pair of scissors--he/she will not be able to associate what a 'sharp/dangerous' thing is, but will understand if he/she is told not to touch a multitude of different instruments.
4.) My proposal does not mean that children are lifeless zombies with no souls. All it means is that they do not view the world in the way we as adults do. It would be impossible for someone, and naive, to think that a child, just born into the world, perhaps only a few weeks old, has any kind of personality or ability to comprehend the world as they are barely able to curl their own toes and squeeze their tiny fingers together. Consciousness is a learned trait that does not present itself until a certain point of 'knowledge saturation' occurs (which could be different for everyone). I agree with Dr. Jaynes' theory that consciousness was an evolved trait and if what I propose is in fact true, it will do nothing but add to this conclusion.
Talk to me and let me know what you think.
Caveat lector, my friends.
First and foremost, let us consider the clues. A child (and my definition of the term will stretch from newborn to what you may call a toddler, although I prefer citing a toddler as someone who does have, as you shall see, conscious thoughts and feelings).
1.) Let's pretend for a moment that a child's brain is like that of a sponge. Imagine, if you can, the big, wide-open world as it must appear to a newborn. Every thing, from every object that comes into focus, to every tiny spasm of a muscle to every laugh or frown, is absorbed into the child's brain. It isn't like when an adult reads a book, and we gain knew knowledge that either supplements or replaces previous data, but rather the spectrum of existence, of their interactions big or small with the world around them is catalogued. I feel that most forget this aspect of a child's life, or don't think too much of it, but if you dwell on it you'll find how truly remarkable this is. Every beam of light and flash of color needs to be stored mentally so later in life they can access said things and react to them accordingly.
2.) Now, let's then jump ahead a few years when a child may be walking and/or talking. It eventually gets to the point when a sponge (as well as the child's brain) becomes engorged and to the point when nothing else will fit. It is at this point, I theorize, that the child's brain, nay their consciousness, 'flicks on' and they are able to process every motor skill and piece of raw data they have compiled thus far. I feel that it is impossible for a child (until they reach that point of being able to understand every aspect of reality as their body is now part of) to become conscious and make conscious choices/decisions. When their mind is 'ready,' so to speak, they are able as any adult, with much less real-world experience, of course, to face their future.
3.) Some or many of you may disagree, being proud parents yourselves, remembering when your child was young and you remarked, "What a personality/temper/joyous allure he/she has!" This would be grossly incorrect. To claim that a child has a personality simply because they are reacting to the world around them is just plain false. As Dr. Jaynes spoke of, children are, then, reacting to basic animalistic urges. They may or may not be experiencing audio/visual hallucinations, but they survive solely because of 'learned, conditioned-behaviors.' Think for a moment when a toddler may stretch his/her arm out to reach a knife that has been placed on the countertop. A parent will slap the child's hand and shout "NO!" over and over to emphasize the point. (This may need to be repeated a few times for the child to understand.) Many might think that indeed the child has learned knives and the like are bad and are not to be meddled with. I disagree. If my above hypothesis is correct, and a child does not have consciousness, what they are experiencing is much to the extent that Pavlov's dogs did. An action is being reinforced negatively and they eventually associate reaching up for that sharp knife as something that will bring them pain. A child being told not to touch a knife may indeed go into the next room and touch a pair of scissors--he/she will not be able to associate what a 'sharp/dangerous' thing is, but will understand if he/she is told not to touch a multitude of different instruments.
4.) My proposal does not mean that children are lifeless zombies with no souls. All it means is that they do not view the world in the way we as adults do. It would be impossible for someone, and naive, to think that a child, just born into the world, perhaps only a few weeks old, has any kind of personality or ability to comprehend the world as they are barely able to curl their own toes and squeeze their tiny fingers together. Consciousness is a learned trait that does not present itself until a certain point of 'knowledge saturation' occurs (which could be different for everyone). I agree with Dr. Jaynes' theory that consciousness was an evolved trait and if what I propose is in fact true, it will do nothing but add to this conclusion.
Talk to me and let me know what you think.