Natures wonders: insect migration (Introduction)

by David Turell , Sunday, November 28, 2021, 15:56 (1089 days ago) @ dhw

DAVID: We are back to the debate of how kids learn to handle language. They appear to have a built-in ability to sop it up very easily until age ten after which they learn a new language with an accent but otherwise handle the new one very competently. The theories involve an inborn ability which could be from God. As for the use of 'poshness' words, blame the author of the article.

dhw: We are not back to that debate. You had compared bees learning the dance to children learning their language. I am more than happy with your statement that the theories involve an inborn ability which could be from God. No algorithm, no set of precise instructions on which movements or words will convey which distances and directions, or which sounds correspond to which facts. The inborn ability can be summed up in one word: intelligence.

DAVID: I'm still with the author: all algorithm from an intelligent designer

dhw: So you think children learning to handle language are automatons. No? Then aside from scale and time span, please explain the difference between: 1) children perceiving facts, learning the sounds that are associated with those facts, using those sounds to communicate with others, and eventually taking decisions, and 2) bees perceiving facts, learning the movements that are associated with those facts, using the movements to communicate with others and eventually taking decisions.

Wait: how do bees know where to fly for nectar from a hive they have never left? The goal has direction and distance and when arriving there it must be recognized as the endpoint, unless direction and distance are precisely coded in advance. That is the author's point.