Emily comments on Zwicky's Trifecta of Illusions - Less Wrong

18 Post author: thomblake 17 July 2009 04:59PM

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Tags: bias linguistics self_deception standard_biases

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Comment author: thomblake 18 July 2009 03:58:48AM 1 point [-]

Needless to say, this attitude is considered completely baseless by actual linguists.

There are different kinds of linguists, and in my experience your generalization is incorrect. France, for instance, has an entire government agency of linguists devoted to resisting change in the French language.

Comment author: Emily 18 July 2009 09:15:49AM *  4 points [-]

The French Academy is looked down on as being conservative almost to the point of absurdity by just about every linguist I've read on the topic.

ETA: I just skimmed through the Wikipedia article on the topic, which gives this:

although most academicians are writers, one need not be a member of the literary profession to become a member. The Académie has included numerous politicians, lawyers, scientists, historians, philosophers, and senior Roman Catholic clergymen.

Not a linguist mentioned.

Comment author: thomblake 18 July 2009 04:56:55PM 0 points [-]

Currently there are a number of philosophers and one philologist, but it's primarily composed of writers. 'Linguist' isn't necessarily a designation every student of language would take.

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