The origin of language

1997 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Maynard Smith ◽  
Eors Szathmary
Keyword(s):  
The Other ◽  
General Intelligence ◽  
Trial And Error ◽  
Know How ◽  
The Past ◽  
Noam Chomsky ◽  
Origin Of Language ◽  
Computer Scientists ◽  
Finite Set ◽  
Do So

The past 30 years has witnessed a debate between the holders of two very different views about how humans are able to talk. The behaviourists, following B. F. Skinner, argue that we learn to talk in the same way that we learn any other skill. Children are rewarded when they speak correctly, and reproved when they make mistakes. We can talk, whereas chimpanzees cannot, because we are better at learning: there is nothing special about language. In contrast, Noam Chomsky and his followers have argued that humans have a peculiar competence for language, which is not merely an aspect of their general intelligence. We learn to utter, and to understand, an indefinitely large number of grammatical sentences, and to avoid an even larger number of ungrammatical ones, so we cannot possibly learn which sentences are grammatical by trial and error. Instead, we must learn the rules that generate grammatical sentences. These rules are of great subtlety, so that, although we acquire and apply them, we cannot formulate them explicitly. For example, consider the two following sentences: How do you know who he saw? (1) Who do you know how he saw? (2) How do you know who he saw? Who do you know how he saw? Every speaker of English knows at once that is grammatical, and is not. But what rule tells us this? No-one but a trained linguist would have any idea, any more than a non-biologist would know how the rate of beating of the heart is adjusted to meet changing demands. In section 17.3, we describe a hypothesis about the rule that tells us that is ungrammatical: it is a subtle rule, but as yet no-one has thought up a simpler one. It is hard to believe that we could so painlessly master such rules unless we were genetically predisposed to do so. More generally, it is still beyond the wit of linguists and computer scientists to write a language-translating programme, yet many 5-year-olds know two languages, do not mix them up, and can translate from one to the other. A second reason for thinking that we cannot learn to talk by trial and error lies in the poverty of the input on which a child must rely. After hearing a finite set of utterances, a child learns to generate an indefinitely large number of grammatical sentences. This implies that the child learns rules, and not merely a set of sentences.

Credibility and Trust in Journalism

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anya Schiffrin
Keyword(s):  
Digital Technology ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
Online Media ◽  
Know How ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Media Trust ◽  
Widespread View ◽  
Do So

Questions of media trust and credibility are widely discussed; numerous studies over the past 30 years show a decline in trust in media as well as institutions and experts. The subject has been discussed—and researched—since the period between World Wars I and II and is often returned to as new forms of technology and news consumption are developed. However, trust levels, and what people trust, differ in different countries. Part of the reason that trust in the media has received such extensive attention is the widespread view shared by communications scholars and media development practitioners that a well-functioning media is essential to democracy. But the solutions discussion is further complicated because the academic research on media trust—before and since the advent of online media—is fragmented, contradictory, and inconclusive. Further, it is not clear to what extent digital technology –and the loss of traditional signals of credibility—has confused audiences and damaged trust in media and to what extent trust in media is related to worries about globalization, job losses, and economic inequality. Nor is it clear whether trust in one journalist or outlet can be generalized. This makes it difficult to know how to rebuild trust in the media, and although there are many efforts to do so, it is not clear which will work—or whether any will.

scholarly journals Monte Pascoal—indigenous rights and conservation in conflict

Oryx ◽  
1989 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kent H. Redford
Keyword(s):  
Indigenous People ◽  
National Park ◽  
Indigenous Rights ◽  
The Other ◽  
Government Agencies ◽  
Resource Base ◽  
Threatened Plants ◽  
The Past ◽  
Conflicting Objectives ◽  
Do So

Monte Pascoal National Park contains an important remnant of Brazil's threatened Atlantic forest. It may not survive for much longer, however, because the park's fate is in the hands of two government agencies with conflicting objectives—one concerned with conserving species in the parks and the other concerned with the rights of indigenous people to those resources. Although the Pataxo Indians lived in these forests in the past without destroying their resource base, modern pressures have altered their ability to do so. If nothing is done, the forest as a home for threatened plants and animals and as a source of resources for people, will be lost.

Biological Ideas and Their Cultural Uses

1984 ◽  
Vol 17 ◽  
pp. 111-133 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ted Benton
Keyword(s):  
Biological Evolution ◽  
The Other ◽  
Human Sciences ◽  
Political Organizations ◽  
Human Species ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Social ◽  
The One ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Do So

The topic of my talk is a very ancient one indeed. It bears upon the place of humankind in nature, and upon the place of nature in ourselves. I shall, however, be discussing this range of questions in terms which have not always been available to the philosophers of the past when they have asked them. When we ask these questions today we do so with hindsight of some two centuries of endeavour in the ‘human sciences’, and some one and a half centuries of attempts to situate the human species within a theory of biological evolution. And these ways of thinking about ourselves and our relation to nature have not been confined to professional intellectuals, nor have they been without practical consequences. Social movements and political organizations have fought for and sometimes achieved the power to give practical shape to their theoretical visions. On the one hand, are diverse projects aimed at changing society through a planned modification of the social environment of the individual. On the other hand, are equally diverse projects for pulling society back into conformity with the requirements of race and heredity. At first sight, the two types of project appear to be, and often are, deeply opposed, both intellectually and politically.

scholarly journals Thoughts on the Dilemma of When to Introduce the Euro in Hungary

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 110-126
Author(s):  
Péter Gottfried
Keyword(s):  
Economic Policies ◽  
Yield Spreads ◽  
Know How ◽  
The Past ◽  
International Environment ◽  
Government Deficit ◽  
The Common ◽  
The Government ◽  
Development Paths ◽  
Do So

In its EU accession treaty, Hungary committed to introducing the euro without a legally binding deadline. The question is therefore not whether the country will introduce the common currency, but when it will do so, and what factors play a role in the decision. Developments in recent years have confirmed that the euro system is able to weather a crisis, but also highlight that the euro does not in itself guarantee sustainable convergence. In addition to accession, members’ rights and obligations have also changed considerably, and these changes have not been completed. There are examples for successful economic policies without the euro and also for frustrated growth with the euro. Only one area has been identified where the advantages of membership are indisputable: yield spreads. In today’s international environment, this is much less important than in the past, but it is impossible to know how long this situation will last. Accordingly, the Hungarian strategy should target sustainable convergence, rather than the introduction of the euro. If the country can substantially reverse the increase in the government deficit and debt and keep them low, it would be worth waiting until the development paths related to the euro are outlined more clearly, while continuing with convergence. If this is not possible, the option to join the euro area as soon as possible should be preferred, which offers greater security but less room for autonomous manoeuvre.

scholarly journals Meeting the Refugee Challenge: The Dutch Experience

Refuge ◽  
2001 ◽  
pp. 31-36
Author(s):  
Loeky Droesen
Keyword(s):  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
Trial And Error ◽  
Asylum Policy ◽  
The Past ◽  
Dutch Experience ◽  
Investigation Procedure ◽  
Do So

The Dutch asylum policy has been one of trial and error over the past four decades. This article will chronicle its most important twist and turns. It will do so by looking at the general premise of Dutch Alien law and by exploring the different residence statutes available to asylum seekers. Attention will be paid to the possibilities to appeal a decision, the investigation procedure and the Dutch reception model. Where relevant the upcoming amendments to the Dutch Alien Act are addressed as well.

scholarly journals Islaamic Rulings for Incarcerated Muslims

2008 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 139-141
Author(s):  
Mumina Kowalski
Keyword(s):  
Internet Access ◽  
The Other ◽  
Mail Order ◽  
Correctional Institutions ◽  
The Past ◽  
Printed Books ◽  
Restricted Environment ◽  
On Line ◽  
Prison Chaplains ◽  
Do So

Even in an age of digital research, printed books that can be held in one’shands and read are far from being relics of the past. This is doubly true inthe restricted environment of an American prison, where access to theInternet is out of bounds but books may be obtained through mail order orprison libraries. This publication seeks to overcome this Internet access gapby printing questions from an online Prison Q &A Forum as a slim booklet.It represents the new challenge posed by the fatwa-on-line phenomena, itsinfluence in diverse settings, and the complexities of conflicting notions ofreligious authority. Eighty questions, purportedly from incarcerated Muslimsin American prisons, are answered by thirteen shaykhs and publishedby a bookstore, self-described as “revolutionizing authentic salafee publishing”(back cover).Numerous questions in this booklet are familiar toMuslim prison chaplains,who are professionally trained to prioritize and negotiate religiousaccommodation within correctional institutions. For example, Question 11reads: “I am locked in the cell with another Muslim and there is not enoughroom for us to pray side-by-side. Can we then pray with one of us in frontof the other?” (p. 19). One shaykh says that it is permissible to do so becauseof the situation, reflecting the principle that necessity may alter prescribedritual requirements. However, addressing this and other questions without an ...

The Introduction of Negative Numbers

1940 ◽  
Vol 33 (6) ◽  
pp. 262-269
Author(s):  
Walter J. Bruns
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Elementary Mathematics ◽  
The Other ◽  
Real Numbers ◽  
Negative Numbers ◽  
Scientific Methods ◽  
Know How ◽  
Mathematical Situation ◽  
The Moment ◽  
Do So

It Is one of the most difficult tasks in teaching elementary mathematics in high schools to be both, understandable and correct. Most textbook authors know how to write simply and so to speak popularly, but, on the other hand, there is no doubt that many of them fall short of perfect scientific correctness. It would be ridiculous to try putting in school classes such modern scientific methods as, for example, the formal introduction of real fractions as couples of integral numbers, negative numbers as couples of positive numbers, imaginary numbers as couples of real numbers. However, we are often forced as teachers to meet a mathematical situation where we have to pay attention to two points: first, no conclusion must be gained surreptitously or by tricks, and secondly, when some of the steps within a statement are too difficult to be understood by young people the gaps must not be concealed but, on the contrary, pointed out to the students with the explanation that it is possible to accomplish the proof although we may not do so for the moment.

scholarly journals O cristal em decomposição em Morte em Veneza de Luchino Visconti

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Veronica Miranda Damasceno
Keyword(s):  
Gilles Deleuze ◽  
The Other ◽  
Fundamental Operation ◽  
Work Of Art ◽  
Past Time ◽  
The Past ◽  
Death In Venice ◽  
The One ◽  
Luchino Visconti ◽  
Do So

The constitution of the crystal image corresponds to the most fundamental operation of time. In order to do so, it is necessary for time to separate, arise or happen, in two decimetric spurts, of which one of them makes pass the whole present and the other conserves all the past. Time consists precisely in this split, it is the one we see in a crystal. Crystal is the perpetual foundation of time. According to the perspective of the French thinker Gilles Deleuze, in Death in Venice, Luchino Visconti gives us to see the crystalline images according to their own decomposition. This is present throughout his work. In this film, we can see this decomposition, for example, through the plague that devastates Venice or even through the revelation that something arrived too late. When the character of the musician sees the young Tadzio, he has the vision of what lacked in his work: sensual beauty. The too late conditions the work of art and conditions its success, for the sensuous and sensual unity of nature with man is the essence of art par excellence, inasmuch as it is of its nature to occur too late!

Multiparty Democracy in Zimbabwe after the Adoption of the 2013 Constitution

2021 ◽  
pp. 119-146
Author(s):  
Tinashe Carlton Chigwata
Keyword(s):  
Political Party ◽  
The Other ◽  
Political Rights ◽  
Electoral Process ◽  
National Union ◽  
The Past ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Democratic Change ◽  
Do So

Zimbabwe adopted a new Constitution in 2013 which, among other objectives, sought to give greater legitimacy to multiparty democracy. This Constitution strengthens the role of an independent electoral commission, entrenches an array of political rights and freedoms, and requires multilevel government elections. The harmonized elections of 2013 and 2018, which were held under its regime, did not seem to have changed the previous patterns of disputed electoral processes and outcome. Both the electoral process and outcomes for these elections were disputed and subjected to court challenges. The main opposition, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), continue to cry foul that elections are stolen in favour of the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union—Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) political party. On the other hand, ZANU-PF argues that it wins elections fairly and squarely as it has always done in the past because it is the most popular political party. This chapter addresses the question of whether the new Constitution has been able to end a culture of disputed elections and, therefore promote effective multiparty democracy. If not, what are the major obstacles and areas of contention? It will do so by examining the harmonized elections that have so far been held under its regime—the 2013 and 2018 harmonized elections.

Language Games

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Subrata Dasgupta
Keyword(s):  
Programming Languages ◽  
The United States ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
The Other ◽  
Language Games ◽  
Von Neumann ◽  
Noam Chomsky ◽  
Computer Scientists ◽  
The One ◽  
Abstract Artifacts

It must have been entirely coincidental that two remarkable linguistic movements both occurred during the mid 1950s—one in the realm of natural language, the other in the domain of the artificial; the one brought about largely by a young linguist named Noam Chomsky (1928–), the other initiated by a new breed of scientists whom we may call language designers; the one affecting linguistics so strongly that it would be deemed a scientific revolution, the other creating a class of abstract artifacts called programming languages and also enlarging quite dramatically the emerging paradigm that would later be called computer science. As we will see, these two linguistic movements intersected in a curious sort of way. In particular, we will see how an aspect of Chomskyan linguistics influenced computer scientists far more profoundly than it influenced linguists. But first things first: concerning the nature of the class of abstract artifacts called programming languages. There is no doubt that those who were embroiled in the design of the earliest programmable computers also meditated on a certain goal: to make the task of programming a computer as natural as possible from the human point of view. Stepping back a century, we recall that Ada, Countess of Lovelace specified the computation of Bernoulli numbers in an abstract notation far removed from the gears, levers, ratchets, and cams of the Analytical Engine (see Chapter 2, Section VIII ). We have seen in the works of Herman Goldstine and John von Neumann in the United States, and David Wheeler in England that, even as the first stored-program computers were coming into being, eff orts were being made to achieve the goal just mentioned. Indeed, a more precise statement of this goal was in evidence: to compose computer programs in a more abstract form than in the machine’s “native” language. The challenge here was twofold: to describe the program (or algorithm) in such a language that other humans could comprehend, without knowing much about the computer for which the program was written—in other words, a language that allowed communication between the writer of the program and other (human) readers—and also to communicate the program to the machine in such fashion that the latter could execute the program with minimal human intervention.

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