The Secrets of Words
The Secrets of Words by Noam Chomsky, published by MIT Press on May 3, 2022, is a thought-provoking exploration of language and its complexities. In this edition, spanning 136 pages, Chomsky engages in a dialogue with fellow linguist Andrea Moro, delving into topics such as the history of science, the relationship between language and the brain, and contemporary views on artificial intelligence. Their conversation highlights both the excitement and the limitations of linguistic studies, emphasizing the nuances of language acquisition and the mysteries that remain unsolved.
Readers will find a rich discussion that challenges prevailing notions about language and cognition. Chomsky critiques the current enthusiasm surrounding artificial intelligence, suggesting that much of it is overstated. The dialogue also touches on the surprising properties of certain languages and the implications these have for understanding the human mind. By examining the interplay between language and various scientific disciplines, this book invites readers to reflect on the nature of knowledge and the enduring enigmas of language.
Official synopsis Publisher
Two distinguished linguists on language, the history of science, misplaced euphoria, surprising facts, and potentially permanent mysteries.
In The Secrets of Words, influential linguist Noam Chomsky and his longtime colleague Andrea Moro have a wide-ranging conversation, touching on such topics as language and linguistics, the history of science, and the relation between language and the brain. Moro draws Chomsky out on today’s misplaced euphoria about artificial intelligence (Chomsky sees “lots of hype and propaganda” coming from Silicon Valley), the study of the brain (Chomsky points out that findings from brain studies in the 1950s never made it into that era’s psychology), and language acquisition by children. Chomsky in turn invites Moro to describe his own experiments, which proved that there exist impossible languages for the brain, languages that show surprising properties and reveal unexpected secrets of the human mind.
Chomsky once said, “It is important to learn to be surprised by simple facts”—“an expression of yours that has represented a fundamental turning point in my own personal life,” says Moro—and this is something of a theme in their conversation. Another theme is that not everything can be known; there may be permanent mysteries, about language and other matters. Not all words will give up their secrets.
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