More of a Philosophical question, but hypothetically relevant....

Let's say you take a newborn male baby and enclose the child in a holding cell for his entire life. In this cell there is a shower, bathroom, 3 square meals with no communication, the same monotonous grey plain jump-suit is replaced/traded when the one being worn gets dirty. There is also one dim light bulb and no windows or doors.

Now this child is watched on camera at all times, but nobody ever speaks or communicates with this boy his entire life.

What are some of the implications of something like this?

How far mentally do you think this person wuld get?

Can he stay sane or would he eventually go crazy?

Would this person come to terms with and think of the possibility of God???

Would this person have morals or ideals? If so, what do you think they would be?

Originally posted by dominicus
What are some of the implications of something like this?

There have been cases similar to this that I studied in my psychology A-level, but nothing where the person is completely isolated for their entire life. In the case example I remember, twin sisters were kept in a cupboard/steel cage. They were rescued aged 10 and still developed fairly normally. While being held in the cupboard/cage they developed their own language, they still felt emotion and went on to lead normal lives. There were many other examples that a bit of googleing will probably unearth.

As for someone being totally isolated, I don't think they'd be able to feed themselves as babies, so they couldn't be isolated for their entire lives, so they'd have to be fed artificially until they can do it or put in from a later point.

Another implication is that you aren't going to be trusted with children anytime soon.

Originally posted by dominicus
How far mentally do you think this person wuld get?
Can he stay sane or would he eventually go crazy?
Would this person come to terms with and think of the possibility of God???
Would this person have morals or ideals? If so, what do you think they would be?

Mental development would be limited as there'd be nothing to simulate the mind. I doubt he'd develop a language beyond 250 words. I'm also hesitant whether he'd develop a language at all because he'd never need to communicate. As for god/morality/ideals; these are all abstract concepts that neccesitate a robust and clear language in attempting to talk about them. With his limited mental state it would seem unlikely.

As for being sane or crazy... wouldn't he be crazy if he stayed sane and wouldn't he be sane if he went crazy? As an answer, it seems his environment has been engineered to be the most boring place possible, so it is doubtless he would appear to go crazy through boredom.