Robbins Library Notes

For those interested in philosophy of language: Steven Pinker discusses how language works in this 2005 TED Talk.

For those who don’t know about the TED Talks, here’s a brief description from the TED Web site:

TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from those three worlds. Since then its scope has become ever broader.

The annual conference now brings together the world’s most fascinating thinkers and doers, who are challenged to give the talk of their lives (in 18 minutes)…

The TED Conference, held annually in Long Beach, is still the heart of TED. More than a thousand people now attend — indeed, the event sells out a year in advance — and the content has expanded to include science, business, the arts and the global issues facing our world. Over four days, 50 speakers each take an 18-minute slot, and there are many shorter pieces of content, including music, performance and comedy. There are no breakout groups. Everyone shares the same experience. It shouldn’t work, but it does. It works because all of knowledge is connected. Every so often it makes sense to emerge from the trenches we dig for a living, and ascend to a 30,000-foot view, where we see, to our astonishment, an intricately interconnected whole.

I’ve enjoyed watching a variety of these posted lectures over the last two years or so, and they are always provocative.  If you like Professor Pinker’s talk, you might want to browse the site and view more of the talks.