This might be a shocker to some people, but I think it is exactly right: " emotion and reason are not stored routines or algorithms retrieved by mental processes akin to computer programs but are rather thoughts and behaviors that emerge in real time. Recent studies of brain states during the transition from word recognition to word understanding (Kutas & Federmeier 2011, Broderick et al. 2018) strongly suggest that linguistic meaning likewise is dynamically created on the occasion of each linguistic interaction." Read that again. We create the meaning of a word or phrase each time anew every time we have a conversation. (Do read the references; they're both open access.)
"Naturally, this undermining of the notion of meanings as discrete, context-independent packets of information associated with words or morphemes stored in the mind calls into question the claim that context-independent systems of symbols standing in one-to-one relationship with such mentally stored atoms of information exist." We 'make meaning' the way we 'make an emotion' - naturally, habitually, fluidly, without thought or premeditation. This is a short (18 page PDF) semantically dense paper but well worth the effort. Via Language Log (which, along with Language Hat, I read religiously).
Today: 0 Total: 1749 [Direct link] [Share]
