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Where does meaning start?
One place: from thinking
The Language of Thought
Is it real?
Can we think without using language?
Young babies can’t speak, right?
Can they think?
If they can think, how can they?
How do they think differently from adults?
And how about animals?
They don’t have human-type languages
But they seem to be able to think (and learn)
And use tools to solve problems
Lots of examples
They must be thinking, right?
Pretty clever
How clever?
How clever?
Not as clever as humans
Humans are the cleverest
We are very clever
We are the most intelligent animals
Our intelligence is powerful
The internet gives us superpower
We are superior to animals
Our way of thinking is different
We can think abstractly
抽象的思考
The meaning of meaning!
Does Linguistics give us the answer?
• No• But• It gives us a way to think about some things• Which may be interesting• And may be boring sometimes
We are very very clever
So, simple question…?
Can WE think without using language?
Say we can… how?
Is there a language of thought?
Not Japanese or English …
Mentalese
• A “language”• Thinking without “words”
Mothers want to know what they’re thinking
But how can they think?
Where did meaning come from?
Old way of thinking
New way of thinking
There’s not supposed to be meaning
Just nothingness and a huge explosion
Then SOMEHOW we get very simple animals
That SOMEHOW evolved
Single cell animal
Which has a tail with a motor!
Random changes …
Leading to us!
So why meaningful thought?
Why meaningful information?
Why meaningful patterns?
Why all the meaningful “Fibonacci” stuff?
Why so many messages in nature?
Very clear messages
Which everything and everybody understands
No need for an explanation
We get the message
Before it’s too late … usually
We’re always picking up messages
At least, MOST of the time
Why does meaning exist at all?
Shouldn’t we expect NO meaning?
Isn’t it all a bit surprising?
And what is meaning, anyway?
• 意味論• Semantics• Semantic theory
In Linguistics
• (In language-related communication)• What the sender sends• And what the receiver receives
Linguistic meaning
• The thing a sender sends• And the thing a receiver receives• What?• That’s a bit disappointing!
Basically, it is a mystery
What’s that?
In Linguistics …
• Meaning is at the beginning of communication• And at the end of communication• It’s MAGIC• And we use our magic words
It is at the beginning and the end of communication
But what is it?
Semantic meaning
Why do we keep using funny pictures here?
What is meaning in the mind?
Why do we always need a funny cloud or balloon or something?
What does the meaning look like before you put it into words?
And what does it look like after you receive it?
Answer:
• We• Have• No• Idea• !• !!
The true nature of meaning is a mystery
We have little idea why it exists or what it is like?
Which makes you free to think
You’re free to think
About deep philosophical and psychological problems
So semantics deals with big mysteries
And provides a SMALL part of the answers!
We can translate our languages into other languages
But what happens in our heads? Or outside our heads?
• We• Have• No• Idea• !• !!• !!!
We only have hypothesis
Cognitive semantics
We may be missing big ideas
Can we be sure that meaning is confined to the mind?
Maybe there are bigger mysteries
Where is meaning?
And what form does it take?
We don’t know
• Linguistics is only concerned with limited questions
• And only provides limited answers• So don’t feel TOO disappointed• You can still think for yourself