I always have to give TED credit for recruiting brilliant linguists and experts at the forefront of the intersection of language, communication, and culture among its speakers. After all, language says a lot about human thought, relations and innovation.
Next week, TED 2013 will kick off in Long Beach, Ca. and the distinguished linguist, John McWhorter, is slated to discuss texting in the context of speech and language evolution. For those of you not familiar with Mr. McWhorter's body of work, he is one of the most provocative sociolinguists of our generation and has challenged many fossilized linguistic paradigms--including in his brilliant The Missing Spanish Creoles: Recovering the Birth of Plantation Contact.
I would highly suggest checking back on the TED 2013 site next week to download his and other speeches; although, I will be sure to post a follow-up here as well. In the meantime, here is some food for thought on the subtleties of human communication and language by cognitive scientist, Steven Pinker, from TED 2011. Quite thought-provoking and giggle-educing, plus RSA has provided the brilliant animation.
Cheers!
