> On 19 Mar 2023, at 10:00 pm, Luke Feast <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> If your goal was to understand what a computer CPU is and how it works, do you think you could if you studied its printer?
>
> Robert Berwick and Noam Chomsky (2017, p. 40) use this computer vs printer analogy to describe the difference between studying language’s “CPU” and studying language’s “printer” — the sensorimotor interface for externalisation, for instance, vocalisation or manual signing.
Any use of metaphors involves gains and losses. I happen to think that Chomsky’s original metaphor is profoundly flawed *, and no amount of extending it in new ways removes the flaws. The losses outweigh the gains.
>
Happy hunting,
David
* https://www.routledge.com/A-New-Semiotics-An-Introductory-Guide-for-Students/Sless-Shrensky/p/book/9780367809393 <https://www.routledge.com/A-New-Semiotics-An-Introductory-Guide-for-Students/Sless-Shrensky/p/book/9780367809393>
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