As I read "The Village Watchman," I began to think about human development and human learning. It was interesting to me because the character in the story who we would consider "slower," Alan, was the character that did most of the teaching. Even though his human development was at a much different pace, the other characters in the story were actually learning from him.
             Learning is defined as a persisting change in human performance or performance potential. It also is a change in performance or performance potential that must come about as a result of the learner's experience and interaction with the world. In the story, Alan is constantly learning because of his interaction with the world. His learning is not coming from books and instructors, but rather his experiences in the institution and being away from his family and friends. Alan's niece's learning experiences in the story she tells is also coming from her experiences with the world (Alan's world). Both characters are very different in many ways, yet they are very much the same in others.
             Epistemology, the study of knowledge, attempts to answer this basic question: What distinguishes true knowledge from false knowledge? Is the information and learning going on between Alan and his niece adequate or inadequate? According to the Rationalism concept, knowledge comes from reason. For example, in the story Alan's niece asks him if he believes in God. Alan says he believes in God, but his niece asks how he knows that God exists? Alan's response was because he talks to Him, and he hears His voice. Alan is basing his learning on reason therefore, is his learning true or false?
             Alan's niece's learning is based on Empiricism concepts. Most of her knowledge about her uncle is from her experiences. She learned about Alan through all the visits and interactions she and Alan had together. She was able to
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