stimulus. Specific to linguistics, the formulation of this problem is evidence for the existence of universal grammar. Plato's Problem, as conceived here, informs much of the theory in this branch of linguistics. Perception and attention There have been studies of perception and attention that support the idea that there is an abundance of knowledge available to an individual at any given moment (Blake & Sekuler, 2006). Visual A key ingredient to the beginning stages of perception requires the attention of the observer on some focal point or stimulus. There is a presupposition that if one visually perceives an object, one knows that one is seeing it (excluding the exception of perceptual illusions). Whatever sensory stimuli are attended to can be declared knowledge. Stimuli that are directly attended to are projected onto the fovea, the central point of the retina that corresponds to the focal point in visual space. To the immediate left and right of the focal point is the portion of visual space attributed to binocular vision. The far left and right of one's visual space is attributed to the monocular vision of the left and right eyes. In sum, one's visual space covers roughly 200° from the periphery of the left eye to the periphery of the right eye. This large visual space in human beings is a result of a fully developed and functioning anatomical visual system. In the context of Plato's Problem, our visual system is an innate capacity that enables us to be aware of a considerable portion of our immediate environment which enhances our conscious experience by supplementing it with an extensive environmental awareness and predisposing us to extract meaningful perceptual information. In other words, it is our biologically produced visual system that makes our perceptual experiences meaningful. Auditory Some examples from auditory perception research will be helpful in explaining the fact that our perceptual faculties naturally enhance and supplement our conscious experience. First, there is the "cocktail party phenomenon" (Moray, 1959). When someone is engaged in conversation with a group of people in a noisy room, but then they suddenly hear something or hear their name from across the room, when they were completely inattentive to the input before, that is the cocktail party phenomenon. This phenomenon also occurs with words associated with danger and sex. Although people may be inattentive to a portion of their environment, when they hear specific "trigger" words,