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by taneq 2186 days ago
They're capable of movement, I wouldn't say they have knowledge of it though. It can take them a while to even figure out suckling, and deliberate directed movements can take a month or two. Until then they're pretty much flailing randomly and gathering training data.
1 comments

One thing that makes babies hard to analyze is that it is difficult to tell what they do not know how to do vs what they are not physically able to do reliably vs unlearning coping mechanisms for their limited abilities once they start being able to. Failing randomly could certainly be trying out different movements, but it could also be lack of hand eye coordination making it difficult to apply instinctual knowledge
True, but I think it’s fair to assume that when they’re happily sucking on a finger, suddenly rip their hand away from their face, and then punch themselves in the face repeatedly before starting to cry, that is not deliberate.