tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-520807396714463309.post82858423150750060..comments2024-02-12T02:22:30.561-05:00Comments on The Lousy Linguist: Adam's Tongue (pt 3)Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09558846279006287148noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-520807396714463309.post-55171976443401306762009-12-28T20:42:57.354-05:002009-12-28T20:42:57.354-05:00uzza, I just got a bit lazy, hehe. I've got ea...uzza, I just got a bit lazy, hehe. I've got each chapter riddled with notes and I guess I just thought it a bit tiresome to write them up. I thought about writing a single overall book review, but again with the laziness. So sorry. <br /><br />The book club was interesting because it included two PhD biologists, both with some background in evolutionary biology (and one who actually specialized in it) and the general conclusion was the book was not a serious piece of academic scholarship. The evolutionary biologist specifically said he thought Bickerton simply didn't understand the basic facts of the theory of evolution. This was my hunch too. Both biologists agreed that the evolutionary theory component was weak at best.<br /><br />From a linguistic standpoint, his analysis of Chomsky and recursion was superficial and incoherent.<br /><br />It was a disappointing read overall. The one bright spot, I felt, was the chapter critiquing animal language hyperbole. I would consider that as a good assigned reading in an introductory linguistics course.Chrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09558846279006287148noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-520807396714463309.post-77593434303725776132009-12-27T01:43:23.017-05:002009-12-27T01:43:23.017-05:00Yo, I just found your blog and I'm enjoying th...Yo, I just found your blog and I'm enjoying the heck out of surfing it. You never followed this post with any more adams' tongue; What happened with the book discussion? <br />I was looking forward to hearing about the singing apes. Are they A Capella?uzzahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02494141255401096538noreply@blogger.com