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Curious question: do we know if completely neglected humans pass the mirror test? Because if not, then I wonder to what extent a human brain can become consciou

Curious question: do we know if completely neglected humans pass the mirror test? Because if not, then I wonder to what extent a human brain can become conscious on its own without any help from fellow humans and/or animals. There are children that have been neglected, but still had some capabilities of learning language because they weren't completely neglected. I wonder to what extent humans pass the mirror test if all they got was food, shelter, a place to move around a bit and nothing else. I'm sorry to ask this question though. While I think it's scientifically interesting, it also implies the fate of several people that have suffered it.

Jeff_Brown 6y ago
This seems critical. It would be unethical by almost anybody's standards to do the human experiment, but the equivalent animal experiment may have been done, and seems like it would be informative. I don't expect a brain without input and output functions to be capable of consciousness. Consciousness and the sense of self are a kind of understanding. Without experimentation, understanding seems impossible.
- mettamage 6y ago
  I wasn't proposing an experiment, I was implying that this sometimes might happen in certain places in the world, very rarely though.
7thaccount 6y ago
Reminds me of Ursula Leguin's "the ones who walk away from Omelas" which is pretty horrifying in its own way.
- Balgair 6y ago
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ones_Who_Walk_Away_from_Omelas https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ones_Who_Walk_Away_from_Om... For the curious like I was. I'm sure it's an inspiration for The Giver, which has a similar ending.
ficklepickle 6y ago
I watched a documentary on feral children a number of years back. It was deeply unsettling seeing an adolescent exhibiting canine-like behaviour, including quadrupedal locomotion and barking. If I recall correctly, she was raised by a pack of feral dogs near the fall of the USSR. I managed to find it on YouTube: https://youtube.com/watch?v=cymZq1VblU0&t=190 https://youtube.com/watch?v=cymZq1VblU0&t=190

Jeff_Brown 6y ago

This seems critical. It would be unethical by almost anybody's standards to do the human experiment, but the equivalent animal experiment may have been done, and seems like it would be informative. I don't expect a brain without input and output functions to be capable of consciousness. Consciousness and the sense of self are a kind of understanding. Without experimentation, understanding seems impossible.

mettamage 6y ago
I wasn't proposing an experiment, I was implying that this sometimes might happen in certain places in the world, very rarely though.

7thaccount 6y ago

Reminds me of Ursula Leguin's "the ones who walk away from Omelas" which is pretty horrifying in its own way.

Balgair 6y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ones_Who_Walk_Away_from_Omelas https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ones_Who_Walk_Away_from_Om... For the curious like I was. I'm sure it's an inspiration for The Giver, which has a similar ending.

ficklepickle 6y ago

I watched a documentary on feral children a number of years back. It was deeply unsettling seeing an adolescent exhibiting canine-like behaviour, including quadrupedal locomotion and barking. If I recall correctly, she was raised by a pack of feral dogs near the fall of the USSR. I managed to find it on YouTube: https://youtube.com/watch?v=cymZq1VblU0&t=190 https://youtube.com/watch?v=cymZq1VblU0&t=190