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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nWhy Is the Forbidden Experiment Forbidden?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nIn 1980, the American scholar Roger Shattuck published his book, \u201cThe Forbidden Experiment.\u201d It was an investigation into the life of a boy named Victor of Aveyron, who lived in France in the 19th century. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Victor had no family or caretakers. He lived outside human civilization, making him a curiosity for the villagers of Aveyron.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As a feral child, Victor lived like a wild animal. He survived off stolen food from the peasants\u2019 fields and huts. When the villagers attempted to catch him, they soon realized that Victor could not speak in French or any other language. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
When he was finally captured in 1800, they sent him to Paris where he could be studied at an institution for deaf-mutes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
But Victor was neither deaf nor mute. His origins were a mystery, but it was clear the boy had grown up without any caretakers or teachers.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Doctors in Paris tried to teach him the ways of civilized society, but to no avail. Finally, one of the leading French physicians of the time, Jean Marc Gaspard Itard, decided to take responsibility for Victor\u2019s instruction. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
For six years, Itard attempted to teach Victor how to master speech, but even his efforts were in vain. When it was clear the boy would never be able to communicate beyond making basic signs and grunts, Victor was assigned to the care of a guardian in 1806.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shattuck\u2019s \u201cThe Forbidden Experiment\u201d examined Victor\u2019s story and the questions it raised in the fields of psychology, education, and mental development. Some of the most pressing questions in the book are still valid today. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
For instance, what happens to a child without proper socialization? Or how do we acquire language skills as children? Is it even possible to educate a child without a language to instruct them in? The story of Victor of Aveyron shows that there are no easy answers to these questions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In many ways, Victor was the perfect subject for research. He was completely unfamiliar with human contact and lacked even basic language skills. However, despite the sustained efforts of experts like Itard, the results were inconclusive. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The only conclusion Shattuck could draw from investigating Victor\u2019s story was that there is no way to study a subject like Victor in a controlled setting. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
To recreate the condition in which Victor was found, researchers would have to deprive the child of the very things that make us human: the ability to interact, learn, and share with others of our kind. That\u2019s why Shattuck called the study of language deprivation in children \u201cthe forbidden experiment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Conducting the forbidden experiment means trampling on the human rights of its subjects. Children like Victor who lack complete social or language skills have been recorded in history, but this was rarely done. No matter how fascinating such a study might seem, the inherent cruelty justifies the fact that language deprivation should be a forbidden experiment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Grim Reality of Language Deprivation Experiments<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nWhenever a child like Victor comes along, they naturally become the focus of much scrutiny. Even in modern times and in developed countries, there have been several cases of children completely lacking in language skills. Sadly, many of these cases ended in a similar fashion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Whenever a child like Victor comes along, they naturally become the focus of much scrutiny. Even in modern times and in developed countries, there have been several cases of children completely lacking in language skills. Sadly, many of these cases ended in a similar fashion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n