I wonder how a reasonably intelligent person from the 10th century would respond to some of today’s hi-tech toys. Do all cats and dogs go wild over iPads, or is it just a few? And how long do you get to torment the lizard with fake bugs before he turns around and bites you?
Ah, well–as paratroopers used to say, it’s foolish but it’s fun.
That’s a good question, Lee. If you could get past the superstition which was so common in those times, I think that they would do well. One other challenge might be teaching them to think in terms of virtual existence. In other words, a video or the graphics of a game playing on a tablet computer exists only in a virtual form. There is no movie projector, no real existence whatsoever, to these images.
Our generation actually does pretty well with this, because we have had some lead-in to this way of thinking from things like television. However, a person from 11 centuries ago might find it a bit more challenging to grasp the concept that a game which appears on the screen of an iPad only exists as a collection of logic and that there is nothing real involved.
As to animals and high-tech; it’s been my experience that they enjoy these things, but have a limited span of interest before they realize that they will never catch those moving objects, and then they move on. Nonetheless, I find it interesting that a lizard can interact with an iPad. The game with the blue background and the swimming fish comes from Friskies. My cat loves it. I can still beat her score, however. 🙂
This is funny. Maybe someday cats will be able to send e-mails if they keep practicing using iPads.
(This time I won’t make the dumb mistake of not posting comments with my real name when I’m supposed to.)
Mr. Duigon, I was going to tell you that the comments for today’s hymn are off.
Confound it! I’ll fix it now.