What We Learn Before We're Born - Article Review Example

What we learn before were born by Annie Murphy Paul is a presentation that has also been published and it nuances a clear picture of the life of a fetus as it develops. Murphy argues that learning begins right in the womb and that the unborn learns from its mother. She disputes the notion that people have concerning the time that education begins. In her case learning starts in the mother's womb and. Murphy gives an example of a mother who shouts or talks in a loud voice. I disagree with this opinion because during this time of development all the five ordinary senses may not have developed and supposing the ears have not established how the fetus will perceive sound. For instance, she says that the sound travels through the membrane of the mother's stomach through into the womb and this is how the fetus gets to learn voices. In her speech, she further explains that the sound is related to the outside world by the fetus where when sucking one nipple indicates the sound of the mother and the other represents that of a stranger and the baby will always prefer the first nipple because it represents the mother whom they are familiar. Murphy also explains that a foetus learnt the culture of the mother through the food they eat and the particular cuisine being used.

Additionally, she gives an example of the World War II episode where the babies gestated during the time experienced the consequences even several years later. The author argues that the starvation that the mother experienced due to siege and winter that led to starvation the fetus used the little it could get from the mother to develop the brain and living the rest of the organs with very little. The effect of the starvation will lead to fatal consequences much later in life and can bring complications such as high blood pressure hear complications among other difficulties.

I support her second example of complications during gestation period because when a fetus lacks nutrients, its growth and development are hampered. She uses real-life issues and data from scientist to come up with a concrete conclusion. She talks about a fascinating field known as fetal origins which is a collection of scientist information that examines the life of a human being from the time they are in the womb up to adulthood and the effects of what they go through before being born affect their lives thereafter. Similarly, she illustrates the leaning of a fetus while still in the womb through the world trade center attack where she indicates that there were1700 pregnant women in the building during the attack and they passed the trauma to their unborn children. The women developed post-traumatic stress disorders, and they gave it to the fetus who experience the consequences even after they are born. But on the contrary what comes to the mind of the reader is that what role does amniotic fluid play in the womb? The answer is apparent that it protects the fetus from shocks experienced by the mother. It then contradicts the research done by Murphy.

Finally, it is paramount to note that Murphy bases her report on the research done by other scholars and therefore some facts can be discredited due to lack of proper experiments and deductions from real-life situations. However, her research is vibrant and full of content that requires further investigation to give an appropriate account of learning that begins before birth.

Works cited

What we learn before were born retrieved on 17th November 2017 from https://www.ted.com/talks/annie_murphy_paul_what_we_learn_before_we_re_born (2017)