Noam Chomsky - Creativity and Language

Noam Chomsky vs. Jean-Pierre Changeux on the emergence of creativity and language.

[richidpraah]

Most important human for the last 100 years

[CarpetEraser]

This french guy just doesn't get it

[MrB]

Mr Frenchman.
Close mouth.
Open ears.
Listen and learn.

[magedabuldahab]

The french guy should leave noam as he is a lecturer who explains what he said later

[robertdavis]

Our language limits our views more than anything else

[imhoisntworthmuch]

thanks for this and the plenary series.
*Chomsky, Bever, Palmarini (UofA), Changeux (CdeF)..

[simon]

What does he mean by animal modes of communication are discrete/finite or continuous?

[jones]

As I understand it, there are more who side with the interrogator than with Chomsky on this (gradualism vs sudden appearance). Noam has always been a renegade of sorts.
But, this is what concerns me. If he's right (which I think he is), but all the funding is going to the other view (probabilistic theories and algorithms), then what happens to the field? Will we spend decades (or longer) following the wrong path and being lost in the wilderness, before another 'Chomsky' comes along and has to re-event the wheel?

[Vifnis]

The longer Noam talks, the quieter he gets!

[ПавелМатвеев-жх]

Look at your dog when it is asleep. It is barking and whining and yelping quietly in all sort of ways. That means it is dreaming, that means it has thoughts! The difference is only in complexity of thoughts.

[maxferl]

Digital infinity is a technical term in theoretical linguistics. Alternative formulations are "discrete infinity" and "the infinite use of finite means". The idea is that all human languages follow a simple logical principle, according to which a limited set of digits—irreducible atomic sound elements—are combined to produce an infinite range of potentially meaningful expressions.

'Language is, at its core, a system that is both digital and infinite. To my knowledge, there is no other biological system with these properties....'
— Noam Chomsky[1]

[sunray]

i think that the visual language of the octopus is far more sophisticated than auditory language of humans. The octopus transmits shit loads of data in a split second. At the time it takes Noam Chomsky to clear his throat an octopus "sings" an Odyssey.

[davidmayhew]

Classic example of bad form in communication!

[danskiver]

Language is the means that allows humans to navigate what I call the matrix of possibilities.

[magedabuldahab]

The question is what elicit the radical change, lightening or hallucinogenic drug or angel from the sky with a message from diety?

[hughcurtis]

The guy with the French accent makes very interesting points throughout, these are not taken up by Chomsky either. I would love to hear a straight out debate with these two where each is speaking their native language. The other guy makes a point about prehistoric history being unavailable to us and Chomsky starts up " all humans have the capacity for arithmetic..." (12:16). A bit of a super-slow rant, hardly patients at all, as others suggest. If humans are so *ucken dynamic and creative why are we marching into the precipice of environmental disaster while we are picking our teeth in front of a computer screen. Capitalism has us worn out and no new philosophy since Hegel. At least the Neanderthals didn't bring the world down around them when they went underground. Huh! Ah! Bah!

[puppycasey]

Human language is only special because its the only one we can understand. If we were Dolphins, Dolphin language would be special. Humans for the most part, certainly not Mr Chomsky, are not intelligent nor aware enough to comprehend all the languages of Earth life.

With that said, though, it seems though we had alien help.

[oioi]

This French guy is annoyance being embodied