Hellen Keller's writings may interest you. Her recollections from a time when she did not have an internal language is very interesting.
Many believe that animals do not have an "I" the self reflective "I", that they are not aware of themselves etc etc. This runs contrary to my beliefs, I have had several conversations/arguments on HN along those lines, but lets not dwell on mere beliefs.
What I find interesting is what test/experiment can one perform that can demonstrate that a human, who is not allowed to communicate linguistically, has the attributes mentioned above. If we cannot design such a compelling experiment that shows are inability to detect those attributes in animal even if those attributes maybe present.
We need the restriction of no-linguistic-communication so that animals and humans are on the same playing field. Hellen Keller, when she did not have language she would have been on the same playing field.
My position is that if I cant even prove/demonstrate to others that you are sentient in the senses described above, how can we even claim that animals aren't sentient. We have no way of demonstrating it even if they were.
Many believe that animals do not have an "I" the self reflective "I", that they are not aware of themselves etc etc. This runs contrary to my beliefs, I have had several conversations/arguments on HN along those lines, but lets not dwell on mere beliefs.
What I find interesting is what test/experiment can one perform that can demonstrate that a human, who is not allowed to communicate linguistically, has the attributes mentioned above. If we cannot design such a compelling experiment that shows are inability to detect those attributes in animal even if those attributes maybe present.
We need the restriction of no-linguistic-communication so that animals and humans are on the same playing field. Hellen Keller, when she did not have language she would have been on the same playing field.
My position is that if I cant even prove/demonstrate to others that you are sentient in the senses described above, how can we even claim that animals aren't sentient. We have no way of demonstrating it even if they were.