e11.docx
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e11.docx
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e11
Thelinguisticsystem302
Therearethreethousandlanguagesspokentoday.Somepeopleevenbelievethatthereareasmanyasfivethousandlanguagesthatarestilllivingtoday.Theselanguagesareverydifferentonefromanother.Indeed,theyaresodifferentastobemutuallyunintelligiblethatwecallthemseparatelanguages.Aspeakerofoneofthem,nomatterhowskillfulandfluent,cannotcommunicatewithaspeakerofanotherunlessoneofthem,aswesay,learnstheother’slanguage.Yetthesedifferences,greatastheyare,aredifferencesofdetail-differencesofthekindsofsoundsusedandthewaysofputtingthemtogether.Intheirbroadoutlines,intheirbasicprinciples,andeveninthewaytheyapproachcertainspecificproblemsofcommunication,languageshaveagreatdealincommon.
Weareallintimatelyfamiliaratleastonelanguage,yetfewofuseverstoptoconsiderwhatweknowaboutit.Thewordsofalanguagecanbelistedinadictionary,butnotallthesentences,andalanguageconsistsofthesesentencesaswellaswords.
Speakersuseafinitesetofrulestoproduceandunderstandaninfinitesetofsentences.Theserulescomprisethegrammarofalanguage,whichislearnedwhenyouacquirethelanguage.Thegrammaroflanguageincludesthesoundsystem,howwordsmaybecombinedintophrasesandsentences,andthewayinwhichsoundandmeaningarerelated.
Thesoundsandmeaningofwordsarerelatedinanarbitraryfashion.Thatis,ifyouhadneverheardthewordgrammar,youwouldnot,byitssounds,knowwhatitmean.Language,then,isasystemthatrelatessoundswithmeanings,andwhenyouknowalanguage,youknowthislinguisticsystem.
Thelinguisticknowledge,orlinguisticcompetence,isdifferentfromlinguisticbehavior,knownaslinguisticperformance.Ifyouwokeuponemorninganddecidedtostoptalking,youwouldstillhavetheknowledgeofyourlanguage.Ifyoudonotknowthelanguage,youcannotspeakit;butofyouknowthelanguage,youmaychoosenottospeak.
Languageisatoolofcommunication.Butoflanguageisdefinedmerelyasasystemofcommunication,thenlanguageisnotuniquethumans.Weknowbirds,bees,crabs,spiders,whales,andmostothercreaturescommunicateinsomeway.However,therearecertaincharacteristicsofhumanlanguagenotfoundinthecommunicationsystemsofanyotherspecies.Abasicpropertyofhumanlanguageisitscreativeaspect,thatis,aspeaker’sabilitytocombinethebasiclinguisticunitstoformaninfinitesetofwell-formed,orgrammatical,sentences,mostofwhicharenovel,neverbeforeproducedorheard.Thegrammarofhumanlanguagecangenerateinfinitemessage,apropertyuniquetothehumanspecies.
Twokindsofbrain
Goodafternoon,ladiesandgentlemen,Iwouldliketothankyouforinvitingmetotalkaboutthesubjectofthedifferencebetweenabrainandacomputer.
Thedifferencebetweenabrainandacomputercanbeexpressedinasingleword,thatis,complexity.
Thelargemammalianbrainisthemostcomplicatedthing,foritssize,knowntous,thehumanbrainweighsthreepounds,butinthatthreepoundsaretenbillionneuronsandahundredbillionsmallercells.Thesemanybillionsofcellsareinterconnectedinavastlycomplicatednetworkthatwecannotbegintointerpretasyet.
Eventhemostcomplicatedcomputermanhasyetbuiltcannotcompareinintricacywiththebrain.Computerswitchesandcomponentsnumberinthethousandsratherthaninthebillions.What’smore,thecomputerswitchisjustanon-offdevice,whereasthebraincellisitselfpossessedofatremendouslycomplexinnerstructure.
Canacomputerthink?
Thatdependsonwhatyoumeanbythink.Ifsolvingamathematicalproblemisthinking,thenacomputercanthinkanddosomuchfasterthanaman.Ofcourse,mostmathematicalproblemscanbesolvedquitemechanicallybyrepeatingcertainstraightforwardprocessoverandoveragain.
Itisfrequentlysaidthatcomputerssolveproblemsonlybecausetheyareprogrammedtodoso.Theycanonlydowhatmenhavethemdo.Onemustrememberthathumanbeingsalsocanonlydowhattheyareprogrammedtodo.Ourgenesprogramusandourpotentialitiesarelimitbythatprogram.
Ourprogramissomuchmoreenormouslycomplex,though,thatwemightliketodefinethinkingintermsofourcreativelyinliterature,art,scienceandtechnology.Inthatsense,computerscertainlycannotthink.Surely,though,ifacomputercanbemadecomplexenough,itcanbeascreativeasweare.Ifitcouldbemadeascomplexasahumanbrain,itcouldbetheequivalentahumanbrainanddowhateverahumanbraincando.
Buthowlongwillittaketobuildacomputercomplexenoughtoduplicatethehumanbrain?
Perhaps,notaslongassomepeoplethink.Longbeforeweapproachacomputerascomplexasourbrain,wewillperhapsbuildacomputerthatisatleastcomplexenoughtodesigncomplexcomputercoulddesignonestillmorecomplex.
Thepointofconcernisthathumanityisnotonlycreatingaservant,butalsoathreateningrival.
Thebiologicalrevolution
RespectedMr.President,dearfacultyandstudents,
Thankyouforinvitingmetotalkabouttheemergingbiologicalrevolution.
Inhisbookbravenewworld,publishedin1932,AldousHuxleypredictedabigbiotechnologicalrevolutionabouttotakeplace:
thehatchingofpeoplenotinwombsbutintesttubes;thedrugwhichgavepeopleinstanthappiness;thesensationwhichwassimulatedbyimplantedelectrodes;andmodificationofbehaviorthroughtheadministrationofvariousartificialhormones.With70yearsofseparatingusfromthepublicationofthisbook,wecanseethatHuxley’stechnologicalpredictionsaresurprisinglyaccurate.ManyofthetechnologiesthatHuxleyenvisionedarealreadyhereorjustoverthehorizon.Butthisrevolutionhasonlyjustbegun.Newbreakthroughsinbiomedicaltechnologyareannounceddaily;achievementssuchasthecompletionofthehumangenomeprojectportendmuchmoreseriouschangestocome.
AccordingtoHuxley,themostsignificantthreatposedbycontemporarybiotechnologyisthepossibilitythatitwillalterhumannatureandtherebymoveusintoaposthumanstageofhistory.Thisisimportantbecausehumannatureexistsanddefinesusasaspecieswithastablecontinuity.Itiswhatdefinesourmostbasicvalues.Medicaltechnologyoffersusinmanycasesadevil’sbargain:
Longerlife,butwithreducedmentalcapacity;freedomfromdepression,togetherwithfreedomfromcreativityorspirit.itwillblurthelinebetweenwhatweachieveonourownandwhatweachievebecauseofthelevelsofvariouschemicalinourbrains.
Considerthefollowingthreescenarios,allofwhicharedistinctpossibilitiesthatmayunfoldoverthenextgenerationortwo.
Thefirsthastodowithnewdrugs.weknowhumanpersonalityisplastic.Psychotropicdrugscanaffecttraitslikeself-esteemandtheabilitytoconcentrate.Stolidpeoplecanbecomevivacious;introspectiveonesextroverts;youcanadoptonepersonalityonWednesdayandanotherfortheweekend.
Thesecondhastodowithstemcells.Inthisscenario,advancesinstemcellresearchallowscientiststoregeneratevirtuallyanytissueinthebody,sothatlifeexpectanciesarepushedwellabove100years.Ifyouneedanewheartorliver,youjustgrowoneinsidethechestcavityofapigorcow;braindamagefromAlzheimer’sandstrokecanbereversed.Theonlyproblemisthattherearemanysubtleandsomenot-so-subtleaspectsofhumanagingthatthebiotechindustryhasnotquitefiguredouthowtofix:
peoplegrowmentallyrigidandincreasinglyfixedintheirviewsastheyage.Worstofall,theyjustrefusetogetoutoftheway,notjustoftheirchildren,buttheirgrandchildrenandgreat-grandchildren.
Inathirdscenario,peoplewillscreenembryosbeforeimplantationsoastooptimizethekindofchildrentheyhaveifsomeonedoesnotliveuotosocialexpectations,hetendstoblamebadgeneticchoicesbyhisparentsratherthanhimself.Humangeneshavebeentransferredtoanimalsandeventoplantstoproducenewmedicalproducts;andanimalgeneshavebeenaddedtocertainembryostoincreasetheirphysicalenduranceorresistancetodisease.Thesewillhaveseriousandunexpectedconsequences.
Wedonothavetoawaitthearrivalhumangeneticengineeringtoforeseeatimewhenwewillbeabletoenhanceintelligence,memory,emotionalsensitivity,andsexuality,aswellasreduceaggressivenessandmanipulatebehaviorinahostofotherways.
Themedicalprofessionisdedicatedtothepropositionthatanythingthatcandefeatdiseaseandprolonglifeisunequivocallyagoodthing.Thefearofdeathisoneofthedeepestandmostabidinghumanpassions,soitisunderstandablethatweshouldcelebrateanyadvanceinmedicaltechnologythatappearstoputdeathoff.Butpeopleworryaboutthequalityoftheirlivesaswell-notjustthequantity.Ideally,onewouldlikenotmerelytolivelongerbutalsotohaveone’sdifferentfacultiesfailascloseaspossibletowhendeathfinallycomes,sothatonedoesnothavetopassthroughaperiodofdebilityattheendoflife.
Whilemanymedicaladvanceshaveincreasedthequalityoflifeforolderpeople,manyhavehadtheoppositeeffectbyprolongingonlyoneaspectoflifeandincreasingdependency.Alzheimer’sdisease-inwhichcertainpartsofthebrainwasteaway,leadingtolossofmemoryandeventuallydementia-isagoodexampleofthis,becausethelikelihoodofgettingitrisesproportionatelywithage.Atage65onlyonpersoninahundredislikelytocomedownwithAlzheimer’s:
at85,itisoneinsix.TherapidgrowthinthepopulationsufferingfromAlzheimer’sindevelopedcountriesisthusad
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