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Path: utzoo!linus!sidney
From: sidney@linus.UUCP (Sidney Markowitz)
Newsgroups: net.origins
Subject: Re: Orphaned Response
Message-ID: <397@linus.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 23-May-85 09:15:32 EDT
Article-I.D.: linus.397
Posted: Thu May 23 09:15:32 1985
Date-Received: Fri, 24-May-85 21:20:26 EDT
References: <-41400@psivax.UUCP> <14600014@hpfcrs.UUCP>
Reply-To: sidney@linus.UUCP (Sidney Markowitz)
Organization: The MITRE Corporation, Bedford, MA
Lines: 21
Summary: 

In article <14600014@hpfcrs.UUCP> lief@hpfcrs.UUCP (lief) writes:
>
>Any idea what mutation or natural selection mechanism caused mammals which
>have no *capacity* for learning languages to somehow gain that ability?

See Marvin Minsky's article in the April '85 issue of _Byte_ on the
likelihood of our being able to communicate with a hypothetical
extra-terrestrial intelligence. (The article is really about language and
intelligence.) Minsky argues that much of the foundation for linguistic
ability is inherent in cognitive processes and structures required for
reasoning and problem solving. In other words, if you develop the abilities
of planning and abstraction, linguistic capacity may be a result.




-- 
					Sidney Markowitz

ARPA:	sidney@mitre-bedford
UUCP:	...{allegra,decvax,genrad,ihnp4,philabs,security,utzoo}!linus!sidney