203 | N.J. Enfield on Why Language is Good for Lawyers and Not Scientists

203 | N.J. Enfield on Why Language is Good for Lawyers and Not Scientists

We describe the world using language — we can't help it. And we all know that ordinary language is an imperfect way of communicating rigorous scientific statements, but sometimes it's the best we can do. Linguist N.J. Enfield argues that the difficulties run more deeply than we might ordinarily suppose. We use language as a descriptive tool, but its origins are found in more social practices — communicating with others to express our feelings and persuade them to agree with us. As such, the very structure of language itself reflects these social purposes, and we have to be careful not to think it provides an unfiltered picture of reality.

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N.J. Enfield received his Ph.D. in linguistics from the University of Melbourne. He is currently a professor of linguistics and Director of the Sydney Social Sciences and Humanities Advanced Research Centre at the University of Sydney. His recent book is Language vs. Reality: Why Language Is Good for Lawyers and Bad for Scientists.


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AMA | April 2025

AMA | April 2025

Welcome to the April 2025 Ask Me Anything episode of Mindscape! These monthly excursions are funded by Patreon supporters (who are also the ones asking the questions). We take questions asked by Patre...

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310 | Marc Kamionkowski on Dark Energy and Cosmic Anomalies

310 | Marc Kamionkowski on Dark Energy and Cosmic Anomalies

Cosmologists were, let us be honest, pretty stunned in 1998 when observations revealed that the universe is accelerating. There was an obvious plausible explanation, the cosmological constant proposed...

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309 | Christof Koch on Consciousness and Integrated Information

309 | Christof Koch on Consciousness and Integrated Information

Consciousness is easier to possess than to define. One thing we can do is to look into the brain and see what lights up when conscious awareness is taking place. A complete understanding of this would...

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308 | Alison Gopnik on Children, AI, and Modes of Thinking

308 | Alison Gopnik on Children, AI, and Modes of Thinking

We often study cognition in other species, in part to learn about modes of thinking that are different from our own. Today's guest, psychologist/philosopher Alison Gopnik, argues that we needn't look ...

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AMA | March 2025

AMA | March 2025

Welcome to the March 2025 Ask Me Anything episode of Mindscape! These monthly excursions are funded by Patreon supporters (who are also the ones asking the questions). We take questions asked by Patre...

10 Mars 20252h 58min

307 | Kevin Peterson on the Theory of Cocktails

307 | Kevin Peterson on the Theory of Cocktails

A lot of science goes into crafting the perfect cocktail. Balancing sweet and bitter notes, providing the right amount of aeration and dilution, getting it to just the right temperature and keeping it...

3 Mars 20251h 16min

306 | Helen Czerski on Our Energetic Oceans

306 | Helen Czerski on Our Energetic Oceans

It is commonplace to refer to the Earth's oceans as vast and largely unexplored. But we do understand some aspects, and improving that understanding is crucial to ensuring the continued viability and ...

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305 | Lilliana Mason on Polarization and Political Psychology

305 | Lilliana Mason on Polarization and Political Psychology

Political outcomes would be relatively simple to predict and understand if only people were well-informed, entirely rational, and perfectly self-interested. Alas, real human beings are messy, emotiona...

17 Feb 20251h 17min

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