Molyneux question on auditory perception
In 1688 the Irish scientist and politician William Molyneux sent a letter to the philosopher John Locke. In it, he asked him a question: Could someone who was born blind, and able to distinguish a globe and a cube by touch, be able to immediately distinguish and name these shapes by sight if given the ability to see? A scientific study [1] actually answered this question by conducting an experiment on the congenitally blind who have just been given the ability to see. They reported that such subjects could not distinguish a cube from a sphere by sight alone after their sight was restored, but they could rapidly learn to distinguish these shapes. I ask a related question here: Could someone who was born deaf (congenitally), and able to distinguish a snare drum from a cymbal by touch alone, be able to immediately distinguish and name these musical instruments by their sound alone (without seeing or feeling them) if given the ability to hear? I think the latest study published in Nat...