Comment by midnightmonster | Hacker News Reader

Comment by midnightmonster | Hacker News Reader

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midnightmonster

I agree that the youtube video you linked is not at all convincing as an example of genuine communication.

I don't know anything about Philip's path to get where he is now, but there are a number of videos of Philip using his current method of communication, which appears to be typing on a bluetooth keyboard to an ipad app that repeats his letters and words back to him.

The mom holds the keyboard, but Philip moves his own hand. Mom seems to use a lot of cues to help him keep on track--shaking the keyboard to bring him back to it, repeating his words back to him--but I really don't see her writing it for him, moving the keyboard under his finger to spell things, or "interpreting" vague gestures.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MK_Q60LhgzA

This one has several minutes of typing where you can see the keyboard and his hand. It's slow, slow going, but it really looks like he's the one doing the writing.

I saw the video. In my opinion, the mother gives slightly clues that make him press the button when he has the finger over the correct key. It's not on purpose, it subconscious. For example, it's enough to incline the keyboard a little forward or backward. She moves the keyboard too much. Why does she have the keyboard floating in the air instead of a inclined support?

A clear experiment is to replace the mother with a automatic keyboard shaker. Some device with a button that moves the keyboard randomly to grab his attention again, but most of the time the keyboard is completely still. Also, during the experiment he should not see other persons, because it can send another subconscious cues.

A well known case with less emotional weight is "Clever Hans" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clever_Hans . It was not a hoax or a scam, it was the unsuspected ability to read some subtle clues. And Hash was a horse and he is a child. He is much more intelligent than a horse!!! He probably is better reading expressions and sublte clues. With some optimism, perhaps he even realized "Etaoin shrdlu" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etaoin_shrdlu are the more frequent letters and that makes the typing easier.

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