Edward Gibson: Human Language, Psycholinguistics, Syntax, Grammar & LLMs | Lex Fridman Podcast #426

Edward Gibson is a psycholinguistics professor at MIT and heads the MIT Language Lab. Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors:

TRANSCRIPT:

EPISODE LINKS:

PODCAST INFO:

OUTLINE:
0:00 - Introduction
1:13 - Human language
5:19 - Generalizations in language
11:06 - Dependency grammar
21:05 - Morphology
29:40 - Evolution of languages
33:00 - Noam Chomsky
1:17:06 - Thinking and language
1:30:36 - LLMs
1:43:35 - Center embedding
2:10:02 - Learning a new language
2:13:54 - Nature vs nurture
2:20:30 - Culture and language
2:34:58 - Universal language
2:39:21 - Language translation
2:42:36 - Animal communication

SOCIAL:

[lexfridman]

Here are the timestamps. Please check out our sponsors to support this podcast.
0:00 - Introduction & sponsor mentions:
1:13 - Human language
5:19 - Generalizations in language
11:06 - Dependency grammar
21:05 - Morphology
29:40 - Evolution of languages
33:00 - Noam Chomsky
1:17:06 - Thinking and language
1:30:36 - LLMs
1:43:35 - Center embedding
2:10:02 - Learning a new language
2:13:54 - Nature vs nurture
2:20:30 - Culture and language
2:34:58 - Universal language
2:39:21 - Language translation
2:42:36 - Animal communication

[markmeachen]

I had a serious stroke in 2006. I spoke English, German, Spanish, and Japanese prior to that. Then, after the stroke I could barely speak English. My doctor, Jonathan Rosand ❤ at Mass General Hospital, told me you can get more back than you think if you only ask your brain to do it. I took his word and began the process of getting them back. I started with German. The footpath to my German became a super highway 6 years later on a 2 week trip to Germany. This encouraged me to go get my Spanish back. Two years of DuoLingo and a Trip to Peru, and BAM! Got that one back too. I have now been studying Japanese on DuoLingo for 1447 days and will go to Japan in November. I am thrilled to say that I now read Japanese better than when I lived there 30 years ago for 2 1/2 years! Never EVER underestimate the plasticity of the brain! It can overcome some serious stuff! This podcast underlines that point! ❤

[elc]

I just smile from the excitement which with this guy talks about language, i'm not even intrested in languages

[niklas]

i just love listenting to someone you really can tell absolutely loves what hes talking about

[seionne]

The bombshell of this episode is that neither of them have an inner monologue. And Lex doesn't think that's odd 😂

[hello-mynameis]

❤ I'm just 6 minutes into this conversation, but am already so excited that i wanted to comment immediately. I'm an English teacher and these are the things i obsess over. Thank you to both of you ❤❤

[thejuiceweasel]

I urge everyone to learn a language. As a German speaker, learning English opened up the entire world for me, Spanish helped me understand a whole continent, Japanese lets me understand so many media I enjoy... I can't get enough, it's so much fun, inexpensive and stays with you, no matter how hard life gets. Plus, the more rare the language you learn is, the bigger the smile once a person from that country realizes you took the time to learn it.

[RT-bclr]

Thank you, Lex and Professor Gibson. It is not often that an entire podcast episode speaks "my language."😊

[dansfishing]

If every teacher i had in high school and college would have been half as passionate about the subject as Mr. Gibson is about language, school would have actually been fun. 😮

[seionne]

This was sooo much more interesting than I had anticipated. Excellent guest

[dannycollins]

The guests make me want to change my areas of study!

Life is too short and there is so little time to devote to goals and there are too many wonderful domains to dig into.

😩

[TowardGuidance]

This podcast is a goldmine of insightful conversations! Each episode feels like diving into a pool of knowledge, with engaging hosts who know how to keep you hooked from start to finish. Highly recommend for anyone seeking thought-provoking content! ❤

[nicholascorley]

My favorite part about watching lex is that he is so smart he is able to take what someone else is talking about, that is way over my head head, and dumb it down to something I feel like I sort of understand.

[zeshwonsos]

Take an inner dialogue poll, Lex! Thanks for the language episode! I hoped there would be more digging into how language shapes the fundamental architecture of thought. Take nouns. Nouns refer to objects, for instance a ball. Think of a ball, is it solid? Is it static? Is it absolute? In your mind it probably is. Even if the ball is bouncing or spinning, itself is a ball as you know it. But in reality, the ball is a process. Electrons are humming within, light is reflecting from its surface, its elements are decaying. The ball is a process, a verb in reality, its more so a "balling" if you will. We need a way to refer to specific snapshots or states, so nouns are necessary. But its easy to see how language influences thought.

[DhruvaDevOnline]

I just got off sam altman's vid and theres a brand new one. Talk about fortuitous timing. Keep up the grind Lex we're loving the content.

[magellanicspaceclouds]

I loved linguistics so much in college that I ended up doing a whole extra major in it. It's great to see Lex finally discovering some of the fascinating and mind-blowing concepts in linguistics.

[kimfreesland]

My brain just exploded! KABOOOM... I have no words to describe how fascinating to learn how languages evolved into this tangled web of different dialects we use in our communication to bring meaning into this world with one another. Ed's a pretty cool dude!

[newbeartrucks]

As always, just a thank you. You always do it right, Lex. Elegance, intelligence, class, and a sprinkle of badazz. Cheers to you and your journey.

[R.oboCop.]

Another conversation only Lex could've pulled off. Enjoyed the enthusiasm of the conversation. The topic is quite interesting and thought provoking

[philliphamrick]

From a psycholinguist listener, thanks for this, Lex!