On 10 February 2014 00:32, Craig Weinberg <[email protected]> wrote:
>> Strictly speaking everything is tentative and subject to revision in the >> light of new evidence, but some things in science as well as in everyday >> life you have to simply assume are true. For example, there is the >> assumption that the ground will not disappear from under my feet when I >> walk. > > > I don't think that requires an assumption of truth, it is just an > expectation of continuity. Continuity and the idea that physical laws will be consistent in different times and places are definitely assumptions. They could turn out to be false tomorrow. > That the difference in what language we speak > could be 'due to brain difference" I would not say follows as a condition > which is plainly evident. I would say it's plainly evident. The alternative is that we think with something other than our brain. > To the contrary, computational models of > consciousness would be hard pressed to explain so many differences in > language. Why should we all be able to communicate with each other > genetically irrespective of geography and culture, but did not begin from a > similarly unified linguistic genome? The fact that human languages, even > ones which are tightly related etymologically are incomprehensible to > non-speakers suggests that in fact, the characteristics of language are very > different from biological systems. If language was closely associated with > brain differences, then we might expect certain drugs to work only if you > spoke a particular language, or that there could be particular foods or > drugs which would aid understanding particular languages. If you want to > understand Russian better, you might drink a lot of vodka to condition your > brain into a more conducive brain difference. None of this reasoning is plausible. -- Stathis Papaioannou -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
