Is the Man Who Is Tall Happy? Page #2

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maybe producing a word

or two-word sentences,

they're acquiring

the basic character

of language,

quite a lot of knowledge,

which they can then build on

when they...

it's unconscious, of course,

but they can build on it

when they get

this later instruction,

which has very little evidence.

And they can, in fact,

live in a society

where people are talking,

and they can understand

what they're saying

if they can put their hand

on your face.

In fact, I should say that,

you know,

one of the most striking things

about language

which has really not

been studied...

just consider an infant,

you know, a one-day-old infant.

Now, the infant...

There's all kinds of things

going on in the world.

How does the infant figure out

what part of what's going on

in the world

has to do with language?

It's an incredible feat.

No other organism can do it.

Well, you know, when I grew up,

we used to believe

in reincarnation.

Reincarnation?

It's a fairy tale, but I think

it make me look to a new being

as a fully completed person.

That's Plato.

That's Plato's theory

of remembrance.

He was puzzled by the question

of how you would know so much.

And he said, "Well,

you must remember it

from an earlier life."

You're as smart as Plato.

So I wanted to ask you quickly

the type of education

you received from your parents

and quickly about at school.

It was a Deweyite

progressive school,

which was very successful.

For me, at least, it was perfect.

It was not unstructured,

but it did emphasize

initiative, creativity,

working with others.

There was no grading, you know,

but you were encouraged

to pursue your own interests

and... within a structure

that was established,

so you did, you know, learn

the things you had to learn.

But, I mean, you were all

pursuing your own interests

and often working with others.

In fact, I didn't...

I wasn't even aware

that I was a good student

until I went to high school.

I went from this relatively

free, creative,

exciting environment

to a pretty regimented

and academic high school

where everyone was ranked

and you'd do exactly

what you were supposed to do

and everyone's trying

to get into college and so on.

And then I discovered

I was a good student.

I mean, I knew

I had skipped a grade,

and everyone else knew

I'd skipped a grade,

but nobody else...

The only thing anyone noticed was,

I was the smallest kid

in the class,

but it didn't mean anything

aside from that.

And I can remember

the school years very well.

I barely remember high school.

It's kind of like a black hole.

And do you think competition

is counterstimulating?

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