Taka  +  238665 Wed, 21 Jun 06 04:49 PM We are prisoners of the sense we have about the world because of our size, and rarely recognize how different the world must appear to small animals. About 'because of our size', is it: (1) We are prisoners of the sense because of our size or (2) We have (the sense) about the world because of our size ? I think it's (1), but my book says it's (2)... Taka Joined on Tue, Sep 7 2004 Japan Senior Member 2,625

	Marius Hancu  +  238679 Wed, 21 Jun 06 05:20 PM We are prisoners of the sense we have about the world because of our size, and rarely recognize how different the world must appear to small animals. We are prisoners of the sense we have about the world= We are prisoners of our prejudices (preconceived judgements) with regard the world= We are prisoners of our ideas about the world Marius Hancu Joined on Wed, Apr 26 2006 Veteran Member 11,673 Regards

	Taka  +  238682 Wed, 21 Jun 06 05:27 PM  Marius Hancu wrote: We are prisoners of the sense we have about the world because of our size, and rarely recognize how different the world must appear to small animals. We are prisoners of the sense we have about the world= We are prisoners of our prejudices (preconceived judgements) with regard the world= We are prisoners of our ideas about the world That's not what I'm asking. My question is, which part of the sentence does 'because of...' refer to? (Plus, as aforementioned, where are you from, MH? And what's the reason for hiding your nationality? ) Taka Regards

	Marius Hancu  +  238687 Wed, 21 Jun 06 05:36 PM because of our size refers to everything in front of it thus you must understand what's going on in there. We think this way about the world because we have this size. Marius Hancu

	Taka  +  238694 Wed, 21 Jun 06 05:47 PM  Marius Hancu wrote: because of our size refers to everything in front of it thus you must understand what's going on in there. We think this way about the world because we have this size. Everything. Well, yes. Broadly speaking, it is. But if you are supposed to pin down the part, which part of the sentence do you think it refers to? That's my question. (And you keep ignoring the other question...) Taka

	Marius Hancu  +  238699 Wed, 21 Jun 06 05:57 PM The sense/view we have (of the world) is because of our size. The sense/view we have (of the world) is heavily influenced by our size. This is the core idea, like in Gulliver's Travels, perhaps. Then you can add being prisoners of that view. Marius Hancu

	Taka  +  238704 Wed, 21 Jun 06 06:11 PM  Marius Hancu wrote: The sense/view we have (of the world) is because of our size. The sense/view we have (of the world) is heavily influenced by our size. This is the core idea, like in Gulliver's Travels, perhaps. Then you can add being prisoners of that view. Hmm...so you think it's (2). But isn't it also possible that the reason why we are the prisoners of the sense we have is that, compared to small animals, our size is big, which makes our bodies much easier to be influenced by gravity (i.e. Because of our size, we are prisoners of the sense we have about the world)? (OK. You don't want to show your nationality. So be it... I was just wondering where my teacher was from, and I thought my question was quite legitimate. I think you should be proud of your nationality, no matter what it is...) Taka

	davkett  +  238800 Thu, 22 Jun 06 12:48 AM Hi Taka, The statement seems odd to me, perhaps more conceptually than grammatically.  All creatures of any size are going to have a sense of the world that is determined in part, but only in part, by their size.   (The pull of gravity, by the way, relates to weight not size.)  I don't  believe the author is suggesting that a large size is more of a prison than a small size.  The prison is really the limits of an organism's perceptual apparatus.  There's really no semantic option here but to read the structure as (2):  we have our sense of the world because of our size. davkett Joined on Tue, Jun 7 2005 Pennsylvania, USA Senior Member 2,788 "The rose stays fresh in its name..." -Bernard of Morlay

	Taka  +  238879 Thu, 22 Jun 06 07:13 AM davkett,  Davkett wrote: All creatures of any size are going to have a sense of the world that is determined in part, but only in part, by their size.   (The pull of gravity, by the way, relates to weight not size.)  I don't  believe the author is suggesting that a large size is more of a prison than a small size.  For your information, this is how the origninal text goes. We are prisoners of the sense we have about the world because of our size, and rarely recognize how different the world must appear to small animals. Since our relative surface area is so small at our large size, we are ruled by the forces of gravity acting upon our weight. But gravity means next to nothing to very small animals with high surface-to-vulume ratios: they live in a world of surface forces and judge the pleasures and dangers of their surroundings in ways foreign to our experience. To me, things seem quite opposite to what you say, davkett. Taka