I just had a brief look, but I can tell already that it's not rigorous enough. Studying human beings without language is very interesting, but we have...
Agreed. What do you mean by "isn't as much an item"? Of course he had language. Who's saying he had "no language" and then, at 27, acquired it? That's...
Nonsense. It's a matter, as he points out, of logic. Let's read it again in its entirety (italics mine): “The language is “unique” because of the publ...
To quote the article in question: "All approaches agree that a core property of FLN is recursion, attributed to narrow syntax in the conception just o...
Not at all. We already have this property. You would agree, I think, that it did come from somewhere, correct? Notice the "if" in my statement. What p...
Adaptation in the sense of a property that's gradually evolved through natural selection, yes. But that's different from the claim this property isn't...
If the only operation in FLN is the operation that appears in every computational system , and if it's a fact at some point in evolutionary history hu...
Of course it was adaptive. Who's arguing the FLN isn't adaptive? How else would we be here speaking right now? Which they're not making. Chomsky has n...
From Chomsky on the Piraha: “The language is “unique” because of the publicity it has received and the extravagant claims that have been made about it...
I would suggest reading anything by Chomsky rather than taking the word of these authors. I can't see how anyone remotely familiar with Chomsky believ...
Unfortunately, much of what you cite gets Chomsky completely wrong. To take one example: "Further, because Chomsky has pronounced that language did no...
What utterly contingent aspects of language? What Chomsky is referring to with universal grammar is almost trivial, and should be uncontroversial, but...
I don't agree with that. A bees waggle dance is in no way "language," unless, as I stated earlier, you adhere to the belief that language is communica...
I disagree. In fact, it's very hard to see how the capacity for language -- a digital infinite system -- could have evolved slowly. You don't go from ...
Yes, that's correct. What I mean by "system of thought" is one aspect of what we call "thinking." As I mentioned, we talk to ourselves constantly. Are...
Language, as a system of thought, is used all the time. We're always talking to ourselves, as I mentioned. When did I say it's "used rarely"? Communic...
What is a dreamless sleep like? Is that non-being? In that case, you're interpreting "being" again in relation to a human being with a life, with perc...
I'm saying language is a system of thought. Not the only system. So in that sense, yes, this system of thought gets communicated very rarely. What tho...
I wouldn't say language is thought. But it does seem to be related to thinking. This is up for debate, of course, and an interesting question. By "ver...
Didn't seem it. You referred to "non-being" as death or sleep. One wouldn't say that's non-being. Maybe a kind of nullity. The world goes on when you'...
Language is a system of thought. It's communicated very rarely, whether by sign or through speech. So it's communicative properties aren't what's esse...
A lot of people are afraid of hell. That's where the fear stems from. Hence the need for certainty about being after death. But it's a fear that's cul...
I think it's more the fact that, much like Nixon, he went too far in attacking the Democrats, who have the power to fight back when they're the victim...
"God" is a meaningless term, essentially. If one defines it as a human-like invisible spirit somewhere "up there" in a different dimension, there's no...
I really wish the Democrats wouldn't put so much energy into impeachment, knowing it's not going anywhere. The polls seem split on this issue, and not...
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