42 min listen
BI 166 Nick Enfield: Language vs. Reality
FromBrain Inspired
ratings:
Length:
87 minutes
Released:
May 9, 2023
Format:
Podcast episode
Description
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Nick Enfield is a professor of linguistics at the University of Sydney. In this episode we discuss topics in his most recent book, Language vs. Reality: Why Language Is Good for Lawyers and Bad for Scientists. A central question in the book is what is language for? What's the function of language. You might be familiar with the debate about whether language evolved for each of us thinking our wonderful human thoughts, or for communicating those thoughts between each other. Nick would be on the communication side of that debate, but if by communication we mean simply the transmission of thoughts or information between people - I have a thought, I send it to you in language, and that thought is now in your head - then Nick wouldn't take either side of that debate. He argues the function language goes beyond the transmission of information, and instead is primarily an evolved solution for social coordination - coordinating our behaviors and attention. When we use language, we're creating maps in our heads so we can agree on where to go.
For example, when I say, "This is brain inspired," I'm pointing you to a place to meet me on a conceptual map, saying, "Get ready, we're about to have a great time again!" In any case, with those 4 words, "This is brain inspired," I'm not just transmitting information from my head into your head. I'm providing you with a landmark so you can focus your attention appropriately.
From that premise, that language is about social coordination, we talk about a handful of topics in his book, like the relationship between language and reality, the idea that all language is framing- that is, how we say something influences how to think about it. We discuss how our language changes in different social situations, the role of stories, and of course, how LLMs fit into Nick's story about language.
Nick's website
Twitter: @njenfield
Book:
Language vs. Reality: Why Language Is Good for Lawyers and Bad for Scientists.
Papers:
Linguistic concepts are self-generating choice architectures
0:00 - Intro
4:23 - Is learning about language important?
15:43 - Linguistic Anthropology
28:56 - Language and truth
33:57 - How special is language
46:19 - Choice architecture and framing
48:19 - Language for thinking or communication
52:30 - Agency and language
56:51 - Large language models
1:16:18 - Getting language right
1:20:48 - Social relationships and language
Check out my free video series about what's missing in AI and Neuroscience
Nick Enfield is a professor of linguistics at the University of Sydney. In this episode we discuss topics in his most recent book, Language vs. Reality: Why Language Is Good for Lawyers and Bad for Scientists. A central question in the book is what is language for? What's the function of language. You might be familiar with the debate about whether language evolved for each of us thinking our wonderful human thoughts, or for communicating those thoughts between each other. Nick would be on the communication side of that debate, but if by communication we mean simply the transmission of thoughts or information between people - I have a thought, I send it to you in language, and that thought is now in your head - then Nick wouldn't take either side of that debate. He argues the function language goes beyond the transmission of information, and instead is primarily an evolved solution for social coordination - coordinating our behaviors and attention. When we use language, we're creating maps in our heads so we can agree on where to go.
For example, when I say, "This is brain inspired," I'm pointing you to a place to meet me on a conceptual map, saying, "Get ready, we're about to have a great time again!" In any case, with those 4 words, "This is brain inspired," I'm not just transmitting information from my head into your head. I'm providing you with a landmark so you can focus your attention appropriately.
From that premise, that language is about social coordination, we talk about a handful of topics in his book, like the relationship between language and reality, the idea that all language is framing- that is, how we say something influences how to think about it. We discuss how our language changes in different social situations, the role of stories, and of course, how LLMs fit into Nick's story about language.
Nick's website
Twitter: @njenfield
Book:
Language vs. Reality: Why Language Is Good for Lawyers and Bad for Scientists.
Papers:
Linguistic concepts are self-generating choice architectures
0:00 - Intro
4:23 - Is learning about language important?
15:43 - Linguistic Anthropology
28:56 - Language and truth
33:57 - How special is language
46:19 - Choice architecture and framing
48:19 - Language for thinking or communication
52:30 - Agency and language
56:51 - Large language models
1:16:18 - Getting language right
1:20:48 - Social relationships and language
Released:
May 9, 2023
Format:
Podcast episode
Titles in the series (100)
BI 004 Mark Humphries: Learning to Remember: Mentioned in the show: Mark’s lab The excellent blog he writes on Medium The paper we discuss: An ensemble code in medial prefrontal cortex links prior events to outcomes during learning The code to replicate their findings Dynamical networks: Fin by Brain Inspired