The Day a Langauge died.

Today i read an article from the The Independant by Peter Popham. He wrote about langauge and how tribal, unique and culture specirfic langauge is dying out. He also mentions Noam Chomsky, the psychologist who famously wrote a review, competely rejecting BF Skinners work on langauge, and instead proprosing a new idea that langauge was an innate skill.

Langauges around the world are dying out. Why? Because he believs no one speaks them. Lanaguges from remote regions around the world, such as the native american lanagauge of Catabawa. are dying out. Globalisation is the main cause. People no longer live in these remote region because of an ever growing economy, and an ever changing lifestyle. A Researcher, took the last two members of an Ethiopian tribe out, who spoke the Gaat langauge. They went to a city, out of their native jungle. They then cought a cold and died. The Gaat langauge is no more.

Globalisation is causing langauges to die out, researchers reckon at a rate of 100 native langauges a year. The increasing ability of english speaks, aswell as manderin chinese and hindi, are reducing the amount of speakers of these native lanaguges.

Noam Chomsky's ideas however would suggest that these langauges could be relearnt. He disagrees at the idea of Tabula Rasa, the idea of a blank canvas. He believed that the ability to learning a langauge is innate. People have an ability at birth to learn these languages.

He believed in critical periods in peoples lives, where they could different aspects of language at different periods of their lives. Younger ages picking up sound, then basic grammar, sentences etc,etc.

To sum up....

Languages are dying out, fast because of globalisation, however Noam Chomsky believes that these lanaguages might not be lost for ever...

Occams Razor

Recently, we have developed a knowledge and understanding in Theory of Knowledge of the idea of Occams razor.

It all relates to our work on perception.

Occams razor is a concept, which can best be summed up by the following.

One is standing in an a field, and behind you here a whinney, or a neigh. You'd turn, assuming to find a horse. In fact there is a Zebra.

This a completely rational assertion, because from experience, the most likely thing to be found in a field making a similar sort of noise, is a Horse. Our experience would suggest to us that a Horse making the noise is the most acceptable and rational explaination.

This is the idea of occams razor. That we assume the most likely, or rational outcome, for something that we havent percieved yet.