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*   **From:** Noam Chomsky
*   **Sent:** Monday, November 2, 2015 2:46 AM
*   **To:** Jeffrey E.
*   **Cc:** (Redacted)
*   **Subject:** RE: Re:

Interesting questions, and there is some evidence about them.

There are pretty well established cases of invention of language, essentially identical to known languages, with no linguistic input: several cases of groups of deaf people inventing sign languages, some of deaf children who invented their own sign language playing together. In these cases it's pretty clear that linguistic input was zero or at most very minimal. They did, of course, have social contacts with humans, which may matter. That can be a triggering, if not shaping, factor in development of innate capacities.

Can't do the obvious experiments for ethical reasons, but it's a fair surmise that a human without even such contacts would not develop language, or probably survive, except very marginally (like the case of Genie, which you've probably come across — though one has to be cautious of the popular expositions).

On Israel, the rightward drift — maybe plunge by now — is deeply disturbing.

From: Jeffrey E. [mailto:jeevacation@gmail.com)
Sent: Sunday, November 01 2015 3:32 AM
To: Noam Chomsky <
Subject: Re:

do you need a pair of humans for language? do you need a pair for all thinking initially. is the congnitive systgem more than just the individual? does one imitate their caregiver. what happends when no caregiver.. re Israel , moving farther right I am told. rather than a wake up call

On Sat, Oct 31, 2015 at 11:43 PM, Noam Chomsky ████████████████████████████ > wrote:

Some progress, some regression. But there’s light at the end of the tunnel, and it shouldn’t be too far away.

Open questions abound. The problem is finding ones that are within possible reach and are not so technical that larger consequences are obscure.

Hilbert could do it after many years of substantial progress in a well-defined area. I don't know if anyone's tried even in physics.

From: Jeffrey E. [mailto:jeevacation@gmail.com <mailto:jeevacation@gmail.com> ] Sent: Saturday, October 31, 2015 7:22 PM To: Noam Chomsky " ' > Subject:

progress valeria? chomsky open quesionts?

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The information contained in this communication is confidential, may be attorney-client privileged, may constitute inside information, and is intended only for the use of the addressee. It is the property of JEE Unauthorized use, disclosure or copying of this communication or any part thereof is strictly prohibited and may be unlawful. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately by return e-mail or by e-mail to jeevacation@gmail.com <mailto:jeevacation@gmail.com> , and destroy this communication and all copies thereof, including all attachments. copyright -all rights reserved