Why keep learning in your old age?
Suppose that we could speak with an embryo in his mother's womb and that you would tell him that the embryonic life is only a short one after which follows a real, long life. What would the embryo answer? He might say that the life in the mother's womb is the only one and that everything else is foolishness. But if the embryo could think, he might say to himself. "Here arms grow on me. I do not need them. I cannot even stretch them. Why do they grow? Perhaps they grow for a future stage of my existence, in which I will have to work with them. Legs grow, but I have to keep them bent toward my chest. Why do they grow? Maybe life in a large world follows, where I will have to walk. My eyes grow, although I am surrounded by perfect darkness and don't need them. Why do I have eyes? Maybe a world with light and colors will follow." So, if the embryo would reflect on his own development, he would have clues about life outside of his mother's womb, without...