'Bird boy'

It was reported by Pravda on 27/2/2008 that a 7-year old boy living his life in a flat filled with birds and cages in Volgograd, Russia, can only communicate by 'chirping'. According to the report, the bird boy’s 31 year old mother treated him like a bird, forcing him to learn avian language and did not talk to him.
The boy doesn’t understand human language at all. He just chirps. When he realizes he is not understood, he starts to wave his hands in the way birds winnow their wings.
Pravda reported that authorities believe the boy is suffering from Mowgli (1) syndrome, after the Jungle Book character who is raised by wolves and that “Mowgli syndrome” has become wide spread in recent years. For example, during the last 2 months 5 persons with the same symptoms were found elsewhere. In Cambodia a 27-year old wild woman was recently found living in the jungles, walking nude and doesn’t understand human language. A local policeman acknowledged her as his daughter that was lost 18 years ago at 8. In Africa a 10-year old boy was found among the pack of monkeys. In the USA 2 girls were found brought up by a pack of monkeys. In Russia a 9-year old boy became the head of wild dogs’ pack.
For those who are familiar with the Jungle Book they will know that Mowgli was raised by wolves and other wild animals and although he was a human being, he behaved more like an animal. Labeling people like them as suffering from a syndrome is looking at it negatively. If we adopt a more neutral approach, we are more likely to see how nature and nurture are both at work.
When we say we were born with some traits, we are referring to something not learned. These traits may or may not be there at birth on the dot. In the case of human being, some of these were developed in the first 2 years of birth. This we call nature.
Nurture, by definition, is acquired. In an earlier article, “dolphins speak”, I wrote that “Attending to or meditating on these patterns enables us to learn that language”. This bird boy, having attended to the avian language, speaks it on the one hand; and on the other hand, because he has not been exposed to human language, can not speak human language, despite the fact that, genetically, he is a human being.
Kittens are born with their eyes closed. Only after they have lived several days, do their eyes open for the first time. Scientists discovered that if they put blindfolds on the kittens for the first three days their eyes are open, they will be BLIND FOR LIFE. Why is this so? Is it because the exposure to light at this critical juncture is essential for the kittens to fully develop their optic nervous system or because it is important in the training of their brains' sight interpretation capability? Whatever is the case, it indicates that both nature and nurture are essential for the formation of traits.
That is at the creatures’ level. There is news coming from recent researches in the field of molecular biology that, at the molecular level, this seems to be true too.

Compiled by Hiew March 2008.