Chomsky‑Jeffrey email chain discussing vision, language, and geopolitical fear

From: Noam Chomsky___________________ Sent: 12/24/2015 5:37:14 PM To: jeffrey E. [[email protected]] Subject: RE: Re: Importance: High Very interesting topics. Would like to hear more from you about them, when we have a chance. Is it worldwide, or mostly here? My impression is that the fear is mostly in the US. There's nothing in (much more vulnerable) Europe comparable to the Visa Waiver program (insanely targeting Iran, which has not been involved in terrorism, while exempting Saudi Arabia, the source of almost all jihadi terrorism). Or Trump-style ban them all. Or Cruz-style carpet-bomb them. For a long time, probably back to colonial days, this has been a very frightened country, maybe the safest in the world but also the most frightened. Impressions. Sometimes it's quite weird. By accident, I took the first flight PanAm 103 after the Lockerbie bombing, together with an old friend, a veteran Middle East correspondent. It must have been the safest flight in human history. The plane was empty. We were bumped up to first class because there was no one there. From: jeffrey E. [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Thursday, December 24, 2015 11:28 AM To: Noam Chomsky < Subject: Re: Re: thought you might be interested in a new version of the percentage agreement between stalin and churchill. Saudi and Iran doing the same, dividing spheres of influence. . it seems few people paying attention to palestinians . maybe next generation. - israel going further right it appears. I find that media induced fear is driving world markets. . very odd. gas prices down nobody shopping, . hotel prices down less travel, commodity prices way down, little building. luxury market decimated. no russians or chinese players. . still virtually zero interest rates. . borrowing not up, fear and paralysis. , ( I add these topics as to these at least, i can speak with a modicum of knowledge ) On Thu, Dec 24, 2015 at 10:51 AM, Noam Chomsky < > wrote: This is the program David Marr initiated, developed by Shimon Ullman and others. Makes sense, and there are some interesting results. David was a friend, and we often discussed these topics. In fact, his famous three levels adapted a model from generative grammar. But there was always the fundamental problem I mentioned. Vision is an input system, crafting coherent images from lines, points of light, etc. Language is used for that purpose too, but it's not what language is. That fundamental difference, along with the fact that the principles involved seem quite different, has always been a stumbling block to seeking any link. From: jeffrey E. [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Thursday, December 24, 2015 10:48 AM To: Noam Chomsky <______________________ Subject: Re: HOUSE OVERSIGHT 028960Vision rules needed to craft coherent image . Edges? " Faggehtabowtit." Two edges crafted by software On Thursday, December 24, 2015, Noam Chomsky <IMINIMME> wrote: I presume that the software just guides the hardware. Don't see how that changes the considerations. From: jeffrey E. [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Thursday, December 24, 2015 10:09 AM To: Noam Chomsky < Subject: Re: The hardware of vision is an input system, It's the software that I'm referring to . On Thursday, December 24, 2015, Noam Chomsky <__________________> wrote: We don't teach children language either, contrary to many beliefs. The visual grammar just grows, and as is known, can develop in various ways depending on early experience. Same with the language grammar, though the period in which experience has a shaping effect is much longer. However, there are fundamental differences between vision and language. Can send you a recent paper about it if you like. Vision is an input system. Language isn't. It's an internal capacity, a system of knowledge, which is used to process input and also to produce thoughts (sometimes externalized). Seems also to be modality independent. And their properties look wholly different, so it's hard to see how one could piggy-back on the other. Noam From: jeffrey E. [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Thursday, December 24, 2015 9:24 AM To: Noam Chomsky < ›; Subject: we dont teach children to see. they have a visual grammar built in. why wouldnt we expect some mutation of that system to allow auditory grammar. please note 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 HOUSE OVERSIGHT 028961communication in error, please notify us immediately by return e-mail or by e-mail to [email protected], and destroy this communication and all copies thereof, including all attachments. copyright -all rights reserved please note 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 [email protected], and destroy this communication and all copies thereof, including all attachments. copyright -all rights reserved please note 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 [email protected], and destroy this communication and all copies thereof, including all attachments. copyright -all rights reserved please note 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 HOUSE OVERSIGHT 028962Unauthorized 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 [email protected], and destroy this communication and all copies thereof, including all attachments. copyright -all rights reserved HOUSE OVERSIGHT 028963