The Dolphin in the Mirror
Page 31
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* Interestingly, the English philosopher Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679) introduced this argument three centuries ago in his book Leviathan: "Whosoever looketh into himself and considereth what he doth, when he does think, opine, reason, hope, fear, etc., and upon what grounds; he shall thereby read and know what are the thoughts and passions of all other men upon the like occasions."
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† Theory of mind is a great deal more complex than this, of course, and includes the ability to know that another can have a belief about the world that is false.
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* For video of wild dolphin behavior in Bimini, see www.hmhbooks.com/dolphinmirror#wild.
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* Jim Clark, the founder of Netscape, was a diving partner and friend of Louie, and together they founded the Oceanic Preservation Society, in 2005. It was Clark to whom Louie referred when he said he had access to someone with as much money as any shah.
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* This was the basis of the Great Chain of Being, a conception of nature that went from the inanimate to the sublime, with man being just a little lower than the angels; it dominated Western thinking for centuries and its echoes linger still.
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