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To: "????xxxx????" <????xxxx????>
From: "Dr. Leon Harmond" <harmond@norwoodfunk.com>
Subject: Re: One more question
Cc:
Bcc:
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B,
It is no problem for me to answer your e-mails, I just have to remember
to check for them so that I can respond. Luckily this one was brought to
my attention before the ending of the millennium.
When thinking of your quite admirable query I have to admit that previously
I had not given it much thought. Yet the other day I saw a cartoon on the
television of a mouse who was thinking of cheese, and there was a bubble
over it's head with a picture of cheese in it. Though there is no scientific
basis for this conclusion, I am inclined to say that in most cases thoughts
would translate universally among creatures that share common modes of perception.
A hunk of cheese is experienced by the senses, and thus by the brain in
the same way for a mouse or a human.
I am sure you have experienced times when it seemed your dog knew what you
were thinking. Perhaps he did. It is possible that he understood only enough
to know you were sad or happy, but communication still occurred. We could
not expect that a dog would fully understand your trigonometry homework
if you tried to communicate it to him, because his method of understanding
the world, by all accounts, does not include trigonometry. His method of
understanding the world does however include an understanding of happiness,
sadness, hunger, etc.
Further, I think it would be most difficult for a bee or other insect that
sees with a compound eye to comprehend the sensory cues in human thought
that are based in two lens perception. I would be quite interested in recording
the thoughts of just such a creature to test the reverse possibility.
Though this answer is quite speculative, it is the best I can do at this
time. There is another researcher in the lab that is interested in the archiving
of thoughts. If you are interested, I might be able to put you in touch
with him.
Thank you for your interest, and please feel free to ask any other questions
that might arise.
Sincerely,
Dr. Leon Harmond
