I really enjoyed this conversation with Noam. Here's the outline: 0:00 - Introduction 3:59 - Common language with an alien species 5:46 - Structure of language 7:18 - Roots of language in our brain 8:51 - Language and thought 9:44 - The limit of human cognition 16:48 - Neuralink 19:32 - Deepest property of language 22:13 - Limits of deep learning 28:01 - Good and evil 29:52 - Memorable experiences 33:29 - Mortality 34:23 - Meaning of life
On that note... Lex, I have always wondered how you get your guests? Do some of them come to you or do you ask all of them? (Seems like maybe Elon came knocking for the last interview. ;) And are you now known, as you should be, to be someone higher up in these kind of conversations? No matter, you do have some of the best guests and well thought out questions.
@@Bisquick there's an image of them right above these comments. I think the audio is excellent. meanwhile, Lex sounds like the voice in Pursuit of Wonder videos, is that right? does anyone know?
Lex you asked chomsky some very interesting questions. You got more out of him in 30 mins than most of his other interviews. Please please, do a chomsky 2. It was a really great interview.
Chomsky's differentiation (before and after 23:07) between real science and observing patterns in large data sets is the most interesting part of this discussion. His approach to scientific inquiry emphasizes a much wider gamut of human intellect, as evidenced by his remarks on structure dependence in language, a very subtle, deceptively simple observation, with wide reaching consequences as he says.
@@DragonofStorm If, for example, we ask whether collecting evidence from extremely large sets of randomized data has any hope of teaching us something scientifically meaningful, Chomsky seems to think the answer is no. He gives the example of a chemist mixing a bunch of chemicals together. Real science happens when the experiment is constructed in some critical way. It doesn't collect random data, it collects data that arise out of a set of constraints, and then interprets that data. Human ingenuity and creativity enter into the picture when it comes to constructing the experiment, the set of constraints. This requires being curious and puzzled about some problem that you observe in the world. For example, Chomsky's observation that in everyday sentences, human beings seem to be picking out the more linearly remote thing, therefore carrying out the more computationally complex procedure (in our minds when we "compute" and interpret the sentence's meaning), while ignoring everything that we hear. This happens in all human languages, as he says. A true scientific discovery like that doesn't require huge data sets, just the willingness to be puzzled about some aspect of the world that everyone else sees as obvious. Hope I didn't mangle Chomsky's ideas there. If you are new to Chomsky, I truly envy you. He is a fascinating thinker who is widely credited with revolutionizing the field of linguistics. There are a lot of great RU-vid videos where he discusses his ideas in greater detail.
S R . Are you familiar with Karen Jones' work on trust? if not I think you would enjoy it. In some of her later work she expands on the Chomsky esque view of 'individual brilliance and actual work' and shows that it is "trust" in the innate creativity of an individual which allows for this 'actual work' to be done.
Thank you Lex for all of your time and effort pursuing these excellent conversations. We may never know the influence that you create by connecting us all to these profound thinkers. May all of your efforts be repaid 1000 fold.
I love you Lex. I'm so glad I found your podcast, that someone can be an intellectual, successful and humble. And yet still be a beam of light in what seems like a terrible existence. I appreciate what you do with your work and this podcast. Forever learning, dreaming and achieving. Thank you
A great listen! I’ve lost count of how many Chomsky interviews I’ve listened to. This one is up there with some of my favorites!!! Thank you Alex! 🙏🏾 And of course THANK YOU NOAM CHOMSKY!!!🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾
I haven't even listened to it yet, but what a joy to wake up this morning over here in Germany to see that you interviewed Prof. Chomsky, thank you Lex.
Thanks Lex Fridman and Prof Chomsky. Great to see an interview about the core work of Prof Noam Chomsky and its implications for Artificial Intelligence. Congratulations Lex!
Don't beat yourself up , Lex. I enjoy your program for the thought provoking conversation and appreciate the amount of effort to provide video along with it.
@@quasa0 Hi, I have to use the word 'honestly' here to tell you that honestly don't remember lol. All I remember is the debate about if humans come hardwired to use language and hence the way all people learn a language the same way. For example, the fact that 'mama, papa' happens in many languages because our phonetic aparatus makes us naturally utter pa and ma as the first sounds. Or the fact that "no" is the same in many languages, etc. I had the opportunity to talk with him for about 10 minutes at the lobby of Hotel Palco in Havana, I remember his wife was there too. Sadly, I don't remember what I talked with him. I must have been in awe of the guy.
I just found your channel and want to thank you and congratulate you for this amazing interview with Chomsky. I obviously subscribed to your channel. Keep it up, great content.
Although I'm fairly new to Mr. Fridman i like his thinking and enjoy the interviews more than i had expected. Thank you Lex for your honesty and authenticity. * Mr. Chomsky is an absolute treasure. The audio is all that's needed.
I really wished that there would've been a video of you two guys. Loved the conversation, in this podcast, the voice is like a old mountain talking. Chilling❄❄❄
Love the fact that you've added full captions and also divided up the timeline. This way people can watch on 2x speed and also skip parts of the video if it's not for them. This makes it that people can watch more videos in total.
Your podcast and others have unlocked a spark in my mind over the last couple of months. Ive almost developed an addiction for this academic stimulation and I believe it is because I had an attention deficit disorder through school and now I’ve flooded my brain with information that I find actually have interest in and can retain my attention. I’m also finding it hard to be comfortable recently as new ideas about life, our meaning, religion, etc. I don’t feel the same around my family or my friends. I’m just uncomfortable. I can’t explain it.
Lex, I loved the questions you asked. I wanted to know Chomsky's answer on many of the questions you asked for e long time. I appreciate that your interview. You did not asked questions that we would all had known the answer in advance. Great job, and always a pleasure to listen to Chomsky.
I've been working in AI (mostly applied for business problems although some basic research) since the 80's. The point that Chomsky makes around minute 25 on the difference between how you solve a problem from an engineering perspective and how you develop a scientific theory about how humans solve the problem is something that AI researchers have long been aware of. A common saying in AI is: "planes don't fly by flapping their wings". I.e., there is probably some overlap between how you solve a problem with a computer and how a human solves it just as there are principles of aerodynamics that apply to birds and airplanes. But we shouldn't expect that designing software that can efficiently process natural language is the same as having a theory for how humans process language.
@@Prophet_Isaiah The ironic thing is that after Turing and Von Neumann, the person most responsible for the basic mathematical theory that all software uses is Chomsky. His language hierarchy is critical to understanding things like designing compilers, automated reasoners, and formal languages. I think his thoughts on AI are a bit more nuanced though. He has nothing against AI as an engineering discipline which is how it is mostly used, even in research, by most people these days. He also has acknowledged that the computer is clearly an important tool to understand the mind. It is only the inflated claims of people like Roger Schank and Marvin Minsky that AI systems were models of the mind that he was against. As well as current proponents of machine/deep learning who claim that an artificial neural net that processes language is equivalent to a scientific theory of language
I've met Noam Chmsky in the past, we had 30 minutes conversation and it was one of the best conversations I've ever had. As an intellectual myself I was astonoshed by his clear and sharp wit in such solid age. What a brilliant mind and person.
@@OngoGablogian185 English is not the only language in the world, if you didn't know. I know 7 languages, 6 including english were learned completely by myself. What about you, fool, which sucks his own comments with likes? You are pathetic envious person.
thanks a lot for getting in such a famous linguist, especially one with such a deep knowledge of history / science at the same time! Also really appreciate the commitment to not interrupting the actual interview with ads.
Noam just gave a useful answer to the ever rising question of “what is the meaning of our existence” thank you for this podcast, wish it was muuuuch longer tho. ❤️
I wish more men had your curious yet intellectually humble and unassuming nature. So many people avoid things they don't understand so that they can be the king of their small space.
Thank you Lex, for the extraordinary job you do to present every subject you chose to talk about . The ability to present facts without the censorship of the big corporations, you give us the chance to interpret to the ability of our understanding. Noam Chomsky is my inspiration and I am deeply grateful for the knowledge he shares and make one see events and life of a different perspective. At the same time gives me some sadness because I feel no matter what I do I can’t change the world or the destruction. Thank you again
Lex please do another one with Noam, we need to get as much out of his brain as possible before this great mind passes away. I am especially curious about the personal questions you ask these people, about happiness & meaning of life. Having lived 90 years, he could probably write a book about it
Hellow I am a new listener I just found your videos. I really liked the last question and the way he answered the meaning of our lives or purpose are exactly what we make of them, so simple and so profound. Thank you for all this amazing rain of knowledge you and your gracious guest's share to the world.
this is an interview podcast that gives practical utility to some fragments of the wealth of knowledge that Professor Chomsky has amassed access to and gained understanding of...I am humbled, intrigued and inspired. Thank you for adding value to my life (and to the world) in this manner.
Lex. Your progress and upward evolution as an interviewer is unmistakable. You get better and better with each podcast. The interviews you submit are a testament to your unflinching open mindedness, your authenticity and your willingness to leave no stone unturned. And you do it all with a searching humility that should remind everyone of us that there is still a truth out there worth fighting for. Thank you. The world is a better place because of the work you are doing.
Lex, for a guy who could easily get by better than most of us on his smarts alone, your depth of humble sincerity is movingly charming. Your embarrassed disclosure about the missing video track in the context of Chomsky's personal significance to you made my eyes water -- which, in turn, only increased my respect for your 'humanity forward' transparent style. Bravo.
