Podcast appearances and mentions of Daniel Everett

Is the Way You Speak Limiting How You Think?For years, scientists debated how language shapes the brain, but new research reveals it goes far beyond communication. Some languages lack numbers, grammar, or even complex sentences—yet their speakers navigate reality in ways that defy expectations.In this mind-bending episode, linguist Daniel Everett, known for challenging Noam Chomsky's theories, shares how his time with the Pirahã people reshaped our understanding of language, cognition, and even consciousness.If language rewires thought, what happens when AI starts using it? Can a machine truly think? And what if whales, with their massive brains, have a language of their own?What You'll Discover in This Episode: • The hidden power of language—why learning a new one literally reshapes your brain • The Piraha people's mind-blowing approach to communication and what it reveals about human thought • Can AI truly “think” in language, or is it just an advanced mimic? • How your environment affects memory, navigation, and cognitive function • The psychedelic connection to language evolution—could altered states have unlocked speech? SPONSORS• Puori | Visit https://puori.com/dave and use code DAVE for 20% off.• BON CHARGE | Go to https://boncharge.com and use code DAVE for 15% off.Resources:• Dave Asprey's New Book - Heavily Meditated: https://daveasprey.com/heavily-meditated/• Dan Everett's Website: https://daneverettbooks.com/• 2025 Biohacking Conference: https://biohackingconference.com/2025• Danger Coffee: https://dangercoffee.com• Dave Asprey's Website: https://daveasprey.com• Dave Asprey's Linktree: https://linktr.ee/daveasprey• Upgrade Collective – Join The Human Upgrade Podcast Live: https://www.ourupgradecollective.com• Own an Upgrade Labs: https://ownanupgradelabs.com• Upgrade Labs: https://upgradelabs.com• 40 Years of Zen – Neurofeedback Training for Advanced Cognitive Enhancement: https://40yearsofzen.comSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this episode of the Next Level Healing Podcast, Dr. Tara Perry interviews Daniel Everett, a professor, linguist, and author of Don't Sleep, There Are Snakes: Life and Language in the Amazonian Jungle. Dan worked in the Amazon jungles of Brazil for over 30 years, among more than one dozen different tribal groups. Tune into today's episode to learn what Dan's time with these tribes was like and what it can teach us. This is an episode you don't want to miss!Work with Dr. Tara PerryTune in every week for a new episode of Next Level Healing. Subscribe on your favorite podcasting platform and never miss an episode!

Hosts Kenny and Mike interview Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss, the Emmy Award winning directors of the documentary film The Mission, which explores the life of the 26 year old American missionary John Allen Chau who attempted to contact and evangelize indiginous people on the isolated North Sentinel Island. The filmmakers also directed the 2020 documentary film Boys State, also featured on Faithspotting.  The Mission is available on Disney+ and fubuTV. Faith Issues Spotted: Amanda and Jesse discuss what attracted their attention and desire to document John's story, the call, nature and impact of evangelism to indiginous societies. Colonial evangelism and the Biblical call to evangelize and the agency of the recipients. The difference of ministry to vs. ministry with persons.     Daniel Everett  former Missionary   Amanda McBaine, Jesse Moss Directors  

Salva López es fotógrafo. Nunca fue un buen estudiante en el instituto pero siempre tuvo la convicción que encontraría un oficio de provecho. Veo similitudes interesantes entre la carrera profesional y la fotografía. Para encontrar tu sitio, y para sacar una buena fotografía, es necesario estar siempre vigilante y cultivar la paciencia. Para encontrar tu sitio, y para sacar una buena fotografía, es necesario confiar ciegamente en el proceso. Yo me entrego en cuerpo y alma y luego necesito ese puntito de suerte. Kapital es posible gracias a sus colaboradores: Indexa Capital. Gestión pasiva en fondos indexados. Indexa Capital ofrece carteras de fondos y planes de pensiones indexados con diversificación global y con costes totales en torno a 0,60 % al año. Indexa es el gestor automatizado independiente líder en España, con 1.600 millones de euros gestionados, de más de 63.000 clientes. Si quieres, puedes abrirte una cuenta sin compromiso. Utiliza el enlace promocional de Kapital para beneficiarte de un descuento especial: 10.000 euros sin comisión de Indexa durante el primer año. Barcelona Finance School. Una escuela líder en finanzas. El Máster en Finanzas del Instituto de Estudios Financieros—Barcelona Finance School, con 22 ediciones impartidas, ha sido diseñado para que obtengas los conocimientos y las habilidades que las instituciones y entidades financieras buscan. Su ratio de empleabilidad es del 100% y esto se explica por tres razones. Primero, sus profesores son prestigiosos profesionales del sector al día de todas las nuevas tendencias. Segundo, el máster está acreditado por la CNMV, certificándote como asesor financiero. Tercero, el Instituto de Estudios Financieros—Barcelona Finance School cuenta con el respaldo de reputadas instituciones y entidades, que aportan valor y reconocimiento. Enlace con 300 euros de descuento en la matrícula. Equito App. Invierte en tokens inmobiliarios. Muchos españoles no pueden invertir en inmuebles porque los bancos exigen un capital alto antes de conceder un préstamo. Equito App llega para cambiar esto. Esta aplicación te permite invertir en el sector inmobiliario desde tan solo 100 euros, a través de un préstamo participativo en el que los intereses varían según los rendimientos y la plusvalía del inmueble. Aprovecha el código NB543 para obtener 30 euros de descuento en tu primera inversión de 500. Esta oferta es válida por un tiempo limitado. Entra en Equito.app para conocer todos los detalles del proyecto. Índice: 2.55. Ser un flipado en retrospectiva. 11.57. Los abuelos de Salva en el piso del Raval. 26.31. Corazonadas. 39.30. Buscando en Amalfi a Antonio di Mauro. 43.26. Las métricas de Instagram corrompen la partida. 57.59. Pelear por tu estilo. 1.06.26. El cuerpo se revela contra el sinsentido de la modernidad. 1.23.12. El inesperado discurso filosófico de Nixon. 1.31.29. La sabiduría del artesano. 1.43.41. Comparte tus fotografías para que te roben. 1.57.18. Diseñarte tú mismo un jardín imperfecto. 2.04.01. El arte de sacar buenas fotos. Apuntes: No duermas, hay serpientes. Daniel Everett. Jiro dreams of sushi. David Gelb. Tao te ching. Lao Tzu. Siddhartha. Herman Hesse. La tabla rasa. Steven Pinker. Susurros del corazón. Kondo. Los ensayos. Michel de Montaigne. El almanaque Naval Ravikant. Eric Jorgenson. De qué hablo cuando hablo de escribir. Haruki Murakami. Perros de paja. John Gray. En la mente del mundo. Juan Arnau. On the usefulness of photography. Simon Sarris.

Daniel Everett é um dos mais renomados linguistas da atualidade, com pesquisas na área dos povos indígenas, especialmente sobre a língua Pirahã. O docente possui obras publicadas em inglês, português, alemão, mandarim, coreano, dentre outras línguas. Recentemente lançou o livro “Linguagem: a história da maior invenção da humanidade”, pela Editora Contexto. No início do ano de 2023, a EDUPE realizou a publicação da coletânea “Linguagem, Sentido e Ação na obra de Daniel Everett”, com discussões sobre as investigações do docente e os impactos nas ciências humanas. O projeto foi desenvolvido a partir das parcerias dos pesquisadores da UPE e da Universidade Católica de Pernambuco (UNICAP), integrando as ações do Consórcio Universitas. Para os interessados, as informações estão disponíveis no site da EDUPE:ACOMPANHE.

Daniel Everett é um dos mais renomados linguistas da atualidade, com pesquisas na área dos povos indígenas, especialmente sobre a língua Pirahã. O docente possui obras publicadas em inglês, português, alemão, mandarim, coreano, dentre outras línguas. Recentemente lançou o livro “Linguagem: a história da maior invenção da humanidade”, pela Editora Contexto. No início do ano de 2023, a EDUPE realizou a publicação da coletânea “Linguagem, Sentido e Ação na obra de Daniel Everett”, com discussões sobre as investigações do docente e os impactos nas ciências humanas. O projeto foi desenvolvido a partir das parcerias dos pesquisadores da UPE e da Universidade Católica de Pernambuco (UNICAP), integrando as ações do Consórcio Universitas. Para os interessados, as informações estão disponíveis no site da EDUPE:ACOMPANHE

Ar pirahã a vez safaret gant un daou-c'hant den bennak war vord ar stêr Maici, e-kreiz koad bras Amazonia. Un Amerikan, Daniel Everett e anv, a zo bet o studiañ ar yezh-mañ e-pad muioc'h evit tregont vloaz. Hag evitañ ne vefe ket par d'al langaj neblec'h ebet war an tamm douar-mañ.

Matt and Jay discuss why learning the wrong lesson - or the right lesson - after we make a mistake will make all the difference between future successes or even greater failures. We're very excited to announce our books “Sexual Magnetism,” “The WASM Dating Handbook” and “Secrets of Sensual Massage” are now available! Follow these links to get your copies of "Sexual Magnetism," "The WASM Dating Handbook" and "Secrets of Sensual Massage" on Amazon.com. Intro: You're Going To Lose. Again. And Again. And Again. We discussed it last time. Yeah it sucks. Yeah it's a fact. Gotta accept it if we're going to live in the real world. What We Tell Ourselves After We Fail Post-failure self talk determines your direction Are you a loser? Do you fundamentally not have what it takes? Are you not smart enough, talented enough, strong enough, courageous enough, creative enough - to actually get the W? Are you really not cut out for this? Maybe you should give up… Honestly, what shitty things do you tell yourself after you fail? All the things…the horrible things…we say to ourselves The wrong lessons Why We're So Hard On Ourselves After Failing Often the wrong lessons come from our childhood Parents can be harsh, manipulative or just plain mean to us when we fail Teachers can crush our spirits and limit our belief in ourselves Classmates can be abusive and bully us Other family members and community can be snide, callous or even cruel Can be from adult failures So we slowly learn, over time, that whenever we fail, it's really, really BAD. May be from traumas Divorce, injury, bad girlfriends, fired at work, BUT WE CAN REWRITE OUR SCRIPTS! Sometimes You Win, Sometimes You Lose Learn Question: When a highly successful person fails or makes a mistake, what do they do afterwards? How do they learn the right lesson instead of the wrong lesson? Examples: Temple Grandin Growing up autistic, with overwhelming fear, constant sensory overload and problems interacting with people -> Becoming a world-class animal behaviorist, one of the leading authorities on cattle behavior and helping to create dozens of improvements to humanely raising and slaughtering cattle, and the most famous autistic scientist to study and research autism (that is to say, from “inside” the condition) How did Grandin turn her failure into success? Daniel Everett (with the Piraha people in Amazon) Years spent with a dangerous Amazon tribe trying - and failing - to translate the most difficult language on earth -> Eventual success after transforming himself, his world view, his beliefs about culture (and even his belief in God) How did Everett turn his failure into success? Freddie Roach Failure as a boxer - had some good bouts and a solid performance at the beginning of his career but started to fall apart physically and never became famous -> Tremendous success as one of the most winning boxing trainers in history - training superstars like: Manny Pacquiao (8 World titles), Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, Oscar De La and even Mike Tyson! - Also trained MMA greats Georges St. Pierre, Tito Ortiz and Anderson De Silva (among others) How did Roach turn his failure into success? How Do We Stop Learning the WRONG Lessons and Start Learning the RIGHT Lessons? Step 1. Accept Your Failure (and the pain!) Yeah you screwed up. It sucks. It hurts. That's okay. It's part of the process. Step 2. Become Aware of Your Natural Negative Response To Failure Pay attention to the negative tapes/stories/beliefs playing in your head after you fucked up Step 3. Figure Out the Truth of the Situation Don't lie to yourself or others. Step 4. Choose a Positive, Productive Response To Failure Think of some positive, success-oriented tapes you could play instead that will help you to accomplish your goal For example: How can I use this experience to make me stronger next time? What did I learn that I can use later? What do I want to avoid? What do I need to work on? Who do I need to get close to - or away from? Am I truly passionate enough about this goal to deal with this pain? Is this simply a minor setback or should I focus my energy in a different direction? Step 5. Go and Do Something Risky and Challenging Again Whatever you want in life, if you truly plan on getting it, if you're serious…you're gonna have to pay for it… …but once you've succeeded, once you can ride a bike or fly a plane or make a million dollar business or have sex with a beautiful woman…once you've learned the skill, you can do it again! Summary of Learning the Wrong Lesson Accept Your Failure Notice Your Shitty Mental Tapes Figure Out the Truth Choose a Positive, Productive Response To Failure Go Do the Thing Again…and Again…and Again…Until you get it! Conclusion If you're learning to ride horses and you get bucked off you have two choices: Get back on a horse or choose never to ride again for the rest of your life.

#076 Daniel Everett (1951) was born in Holtville, California. A famed linguist, for eight of the last thirty years, Daniel Everett immersed himself in the Pirahã culture and other Amazonian people to uncover how language began, how it has evolved, and how it continues to impact our daily lives.I want to talk to you about this culture – a culture who have no influences, no persuasion from the outside world, no history, no belief system, no laws, no regulations, no rules, no government, no monarchy, no word for worry, no advertising, no fairy stories, no myths or legends, no fiction and no spiritual framework on which to hang a belief system. In this episode, I explore what it might be like, if we were able to free ourselves from all that we know and all that we have learned and all the untruths that we have been told or forced to believe in, and to go back to our natural human state?  Where would we be spiritually?  What is our natural spiritual self? The Pirahã tribe could possibly be the closest we can get to exploring this.My name is Ann Théato, and the mission of the Psychic Matters Podcast, is to teach you proven techniques for spiritual and psychic development from the comfort of your own home. I investigate the teachings of experts across the globe, to bring you their wisdom, their advice and their spiritual wealth. Support the showDEAF FRIENDLY: If you'd like to get the links & show notes, including a complete transcription, head to www.anntheato.com www.patreon.com LEAVE A TIP: https://ann-theato.ck.page/products/psychic-matters-podcast-tip-jar CREDITS: Reach by Christopher Lloyd Clarke. Licensed by Enlightened Audio.

Guest Melissa Mendonça Panelists Richard Littauer | Amanda Casari Show Notes Hello and welcome to Sustain! The podcast where we talk about sustaining open source for the long haul. Today, we are so excited to have a wonderful guest, Melissa Mendonça, joining us. Melissa is a Senior Developer Experience Engineer at Quansight, where she focuses more on developer experience and contributor experience. Today, we'll hear all about Quansight and the focus for Melissa's role as a Developer Experience Engineer. Melissa tells us about a grant they are working on with CZI that focuses on NumPy, SciPy, Matplotlib, and pandas, she shares several ideas on what can be done to make people feel seen and heard, and we hear her thoughts on what the future of community management and community development looks like for people entering the role of these projects. Go ahead and download this episode now to hear more! [00:01:25] Melissa tells us her background and her role at Quansight. [00:03:41] When Melissa made the decision to switch from one role to another, Amanda asks if that was her plan or if she learned that the skills that she needed to get things done changed over time. [00:06:10] We find out what the focus is for Melissa's role as a Developer Experience Engineer and what she does on a day-to-day basis. [00:08:43] As Melissa was talking about her projects that they work on at Quansight, Amanda wonders if that's the majority of her portfolio, or if she works across different kinds of projects. We learn about the current grant they are working on with CZI that focuses on NumPy, SciPy, Matplotlib, and pandas. [00:13:18] We learn about the funding model and how sustainable it is. [00:16:20] Melissa shares some great ideas on how we can put more effort into making people feel seen and heard. [00:19:26] Melissa details some things she learned with the open source projects and things she recommends for others with large established projects. [00:22:44] Amanda talks about a 2020 paper that was released in nature called “Array programming with NumPy,” and Melissa gives us her perspective on what happened with the community in 2020, if things have changed, and what needs to be addressed. [00:27:09] Find out how CZI got involved with Melissa's work, what their goals are, and how she's changing in order to adapt towards those goals. [00:31:32] Melissa shares her thoughts on what the future of community management and community development looks like for people who are entering the role for those projects. [00:36:40] We hear more about Python Brasil 2022 that's coming up. [00:38:05] Find out where you can follow Melissa online and learn more about her work. Quotes [00:02:49] “Since Quansight is a company very focused on sustaining and helping maintain open source projects, we are trying to help new contributors, people who want to do the move from contributor to maintainer, understanding what that means, and how we can help them get there, and how we can help improve leadership in our open source projects.” [00:11:53] “This is one of the barriers that we want to break, is that making sure that people understand that these are important, they are core projects in the scientific Python ecosystem, but at the same time they are projects just like any other.” [00:12:17] “I think experience of working with projects that are so old and big has taught me a lot about the dynamics of how people work and how new people try to join these projects and how we can improve on that.” [00:16:41] “We need to make sure that people who do contribution outside of code are credited and that they are valued inside open source projects.” [00:18:20] “I think we should think about diversifying these paths for contribution, but for that we need to go beyond GitHub. We need to go beyond the current metrics that we have for open source, we need to go beyond the current credit system and reputation system that we have for open source contributions.” [00:30:38] “Community managers are not second-class citizens.” Spotlight [00:39:21 Amanda's spotlight is a 2014 paper from MSR called, “The Promises and Perils of Mining GitHub.” [00:40:48] Richard's spotlight is the book, Don't Sleep, There Are Snakes, by Daniel Everett. [00:41:52] Melissa's spotlights are Ralf Gommers and Scientific Python initiative. Links SustainOSS (https://sustainoss.org/) SustainOSS Twitter (https://twitter.com/SustainOSS?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor) SustainOSS Discourse (https://discourse.sustainoss.org/) podcast@sustainoss.org (mailto:podcast@sustainoss.org) Richard Littauer Twitter (https://twitter.com/richlitt?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor) Amanda Casari Twitter (https://twitter.com/amcasari?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor) Melissa Mendonça Twitter (https://twitter.com/melissawm) Melissa Mendonça LinkedIn (https://br.linkedin.com/in/axequalsb) Melissa Mendonça GitHub (https://melissawm.github.io/) Quansight (https://quansight.com/) Quansight Labs (https://labs.quansight.org/) Quansight Lab Projects (https://labs.quansight.org/projects) Quansight Labs Team (https://labs.quansight.org/team) Sustain Podcast-Episode 57: Mikeal Rogers on Building Communities, the Early Days of Node.js, and How to Stay a Coder for Life (https://podcast.sustainoss.org/guests/mikeal) Sustain Podcast-Episode 85: Geoffrey Huntley and Sustaining OSS with Gitpod (https://podcast.sustainoss.org/85) Advancing an inclusive culture in the scientific Python ecosystem (CZI grant for NumPy, SciPy, Matplotlib, and Pandas (https://figshare.com/articles/online_resource/Advancing_an_inclusive_culture_in_the_scientific_Python_ecosystem/16548063) Sustain Podcast-Episode 79: Leah Silen on how NumFocus helps makes scientific code more sustainable (https://podcast.sustainoss.org/79) NumPy (https://numpy.org/) SciPy (https://scipy.org/) Matplotlib (https://matplotlib.org/) pandas (https://pandas.pydata.org/) Sustain Podcast-Episode 64: Travis Oliphant and Russell Pekrul on NumPy, Anaconda, and giving back with FairOSS (https://podcast.sustainoss.org/guests/oliphant) Tania Allard Twitter (https://twitter.com/ixek?lang=en) Array programming with NumPy (nature) (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2649-2) Python Brasil 2022 (https://2022.pythonbrasil.org.br/) “The Promises and Perils of Mining GitHub,” by Eirini Kalliamvakou, Georgios Gousios, Kelly Blincoe, Leif Singer, Daniel M. German, Daniela Damian (https://kblincoe.github.io/publications/2014_MSR_Promises_Perils.pdf) “The Promises and Perils of Mining GitHub,” by Eirini Kalliamvakou, Georgios Gousios, Kelly Blincoe, Leif Singer, Daniel M. German, Daniela Damian (ACM Digital Library) (https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/2597073.2597074) Daniel Everett (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Everett#Don't_Sleep,_There_Are_Snakes:_Life_and_Language_in_the_Amazonian_Jungle) Excerpt: ‘Don't Sleep, There Are Snakes' (npr) (https://www.npr.org/2009/12/23/121515579/excerpt-dont-sleep-there-are-snakes?t=1661871384424) Ralf Gommers (GitHub) (https://github.com/rgommers) Scientific Python (https://scientific-python.org/) Credits Produced by Richard Littauer (https://www.burntfen.com/) Edited by Paul M. Bahr at Peachtree Sound (https://www.peachtreesound.com/) Show notes by DeAnn Bahr Peachtree Sound (https://www.peachtreesound.com/) Special Guest: Melissa Mendonça.

Story 15 from 'A Lifetime Doing Nothing' by Ian McCrorie. The Pirahã natives live in the upper Amazon rainforest. Daniel Everett is one of only three linguists who can speak their language. He lived with them for many years and discovered through their language that they appear to be the only people on Earth who live in the here and now. They are fully... narrated by Ian McCrorie 2022 3 minutes 31 seconds Listen to Streaming Audio Your browser does not support the audio element. Download Audio (2.1MB) Audio copyright, 2022 Pariyatti 'A Lifetime Doing Nothing' as a book and eBook can be found at https://store.pariyatti.org/a-lifetime-doing-nothing. More by Ian McCrorie. View more books and audio resources available in the Pariyatti bookstore.

Daniel Everett viveu décadas com povo pirahã estudando seus costumes e língua. Além de se tornar ateu, criou hipótese sobre história da linguística que desafia tese mais corrente.

Daniel Everett viveu décadas com povo pirahã estudando seus costumes e língua. Além de se tornar ateu, criou hipótese sobre história da linguística que desafia tese mais corrente.

Marietta, Ohio was the first permanent white settlement in 1788 was thought of as the Western frontier of the "Old Northwest".  Founded by early settlers from the Ohio Company, who had received land from the United States after their service in the American Revolution, they were not the first people to call the confluence of the Muskingum and the Ohio home. The large and mysterious mounds that dot the landscape tell the early white settlers that others were here before. Including the 35 foot mound named Conus by those settlers buried their own dead around, where heroes of the American Revolution lie in the shadow of the huge earthwork. Invisible Ground dives into the rich history of this important sacred space by talking with Scott Britton and Wes Clarke from The Castle, a historic home and museum a few blocks away,  and Andrew Weiland from the Hopewell Culture National Historic Park in Chillicothe. Athens, Ohio's poet laureate Wendy McVicker reads from a well-known piece from Daniel Everett, buried here, a poet, writer, and newspaper owner and editor. This episode is sponsored by Just A Jar Design Press in Marietta, Ohio.Invisible Ground Theme: "Rain Spring" by Todd JacopsMusic (in order of sound appearance)Todd Jacops - "Rain Spring"OYO - "My Kind"Keith Hanlon - "Dressed in Red and Yellow"Daniel Bachman - "Long Nights I"Weedghost - "Luxury Umbrella"Weedghost - "Live at The Shire in Yellow Springs 8/15/10"Brian Harnetty - "Tecumseh Lake"Keith Hanlon - "Rushed to Reach the End"Brian Harnetty - "Moonshine Festival"Todd Jacops - "Bath Tub Gin and the Sailors Myth" 

My review of Dr. Yuval Noah Harari's book, "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind."Additional recommendations: "Why We Sleep" by Matthew Walker & "How Language began" by Daniel Everett.Music © Capazunda.

John Colapinto is a journalist, author and a staff writer at The New Yorker. In 2000, he wrote the New York Times bestseller As Nature Made Him: The Boy Who Was Raised as a Girl, which exposed the details of the David Reimer case, a boy who had undergone a sex change in infancy—a medical experiment long heralded as a success, but which was, in fact, a failure. In 2007, The New Yorker published John's fantastic story of his time in the Amazon with the Pirahã people and linguist Daniel Everett. John's latest book is This is the Voice. John's Twitter feed. Find me on Instagram or Twitter. Please consider supporting this podcast. This Amazon affiliate link kicks a few bucks back my way. Intro music: “Brightside of the Sun,” by Basin and Range,"Say Goodbye," by Eva Cassidy.

The origins of language are unknown. Now that's out of the way we can get on with investigating several of the possibilities in this second episode of our series on language. This episode considers Daniel Everett's gradualism thesis that the hominid Homo erectus  was an early adopter of language as evidenced by their extensive travels and creation of icons and symbols. We explore this thesis, Pierces' semiotics model, and evidence from the fossil record. Remember, this is a gentle introduction to the topic which fills volumes. You can find much more detail in the reading list below. Show NotesThe Here and Now Podcast Language SeriesHow Language Began – Daniel Everett (2017)How Language Began – Daniel Everett TED talk (YouTube)Language: The cultural tool - Daniel Everett (2012)The Evolution of Language – W. Tecumseh Fitch (2010)Talking the Talk: Language Psychology and Science – Trevor Harley (2017)Homo erectus - WikipediaHomo erectus may have been a sailor and able to speak – The Guardian (2018)Homo floresiensis - making sense of the small bodied hominin fossils from Flores - K. Baab (2012) Oldowan tools Charles Pierce's Semiotic Theory of SignsThe Makapangskat Pebble The Here and Now Podcast on Facebook The Here and Now Podcast on Twitter Send me an emailSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/thehereandnowpodcast)

Is there a quality more uniquely human than language? The domain of language is vast and complex and involves many disciplines. In this series we will explore many of the big questions about language and cover a range of topics from evolution, biology, linguistics, anthropology, psychology and philosophy. On our search for answers we'll gain a deeper understanding of what language is, how it emerged in humans, and how it functions in individuals and society.In this first episode of the series, I introduce the topic of language, raise several of the big questions and attempt to understand what language is. We also take our first tentative steps toward answering the biggest question of all: how did language emerge in homo sapiens?Show notes and further readingThe Here and Now Podcast Language SeriesLanguage – Collins Online DictionaryGenesis Chapter 11, verses 1 - 9Talking the Talk: Language Psychology and Science – Trevor Harley (2017)Daniel EverettHow Language Began – Daniel Everett (2017)A Basic Course in Anthropological Linguistics – Marcel Danesi (2004)Max MüllerOn the origin of species – Charles Darwin (1859)Psamtik I and the babies talk of breadKing James IV and the island experiment – BBC HistoryThe Here and Now Podcast on Facebook The Here and Now Podcast on Twitter Send me an emailSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/thehereandnowpodcast)

Trey and Alex chat with Daniel Everett, American linguist, author, professor, and former missionary who lived in the Amazon among the native Pirahã people.

O linguista conversa, em bom português, sobre seus estudos que resultaram no livro "Linguagem: a história da maior invenção da humanidade”.

Mary & Wyatt put on their listening ears and talk about communication. Is anybody ever really good or bad at it, or do we just have different communication styles? They also talk about some nerdy linguistics stuff (indirectness strategies, anyone?! Universal grammar? Where are the Daniel Everett fans at?!) and give some tips for communicating your needs clearly, even if it scares you. Also on the agenda: Mary & Wyatt's farm stay/off-grid experience, Top 5 Controversial Opinions, Wyatt's love of chickens, and poems by Taylor Johnson and Marianne Boruch. 

Dan Everett is the closest thing we have to a real life Indiana Jones. He is an academic whose work has mostly taken place in the far reaches of the jungle, where few others dare to tread. His crowning achievement is learning the Pirahã language, which before Dan undertook it had never before been cracked by an outsider. Dan began his swashbuckling career as a missionary and Bible translator. After a while, his ideological alliances shifted and he remained in the Amazon as an anthropologist and linguist. In this interview we talk about how this shift impacted his relationship with his family (imagine having a crisis of faith while on a mission in the Amazon while your entire family is along with you; his ex-wife, by the way, is still there as a missionary). We also talk about how he brought back evidence that directly contradicted major claims that Chomsky had made, his experience between the subject of famous American writer Tom Wolfe's last book before he died (The Kingdom of Speech), and Everett's forthcoming project on the life of Charles Sanders Peirce. Dan's official title is Trustee Professor of Cognitive Sciences at Bentley University. A picture of Dan, fully immersed: https://daneverettbooks.com/about-dan/ More info available at codykommers.com/podcast

In this episode I discuss the mind body language connection. Ever thought about how your language contributes to your overall understanding of your health? I recently read Don't Sleep There are Snakes by Daniel Everett where he studied the language and culture of the Piraha tribe in the Amazonian jungle. His findings started to make me reflect on our use of language and how it impacts our views on health and may reflect what matters most to us. It also led me to think about my time in Moldova teaching health and how some of my topics were hard to break down due to our different perspectives on mental health. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/angela-spignese9/message

Comentarios y reseña del libro "Don't Sleep, There are Snakes" escrito por Daniel Everett. // Encuentros de Mentes es un podcast de conversaciones y reseñas de libros en la intersección de ciencias, sociedad y espiritualidad. Estamos en: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/encuentrosdementes/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/encuentrosdementes/ Email: encuentrosdementes@gmail.com

Thank you all for this great first week of fundraising. It was great, but I still need more support. I would love to keep doing it for another 2 years, but to be honest, I am broke. For these past two years, I have brought on the show some of the top academics/scholars in a diversity of fields, like Psychology, Anthropology, Cognitive Science, Neuroscience, Philosophy, and even Literary Studies. Some of the biggest names that appeared throughout my 300 interviews include: Noam Chomsky, Jerome Kagan, Randy Thornhill, Dale Purves, Michael Ruse, David Buss, Simon Blackburn, Alexander Rosenberg, Terrence Deacon, Richard Shweder, Diane Halpern, Robert Plomin, David Sloan Wilson, Richard Wrangham, Azar Gat, David C. Geary, Leda Cosmides, Todd Shackelford, Diana Fleischman, Don Ross, Gad Saad, Rebecca Newberger Goldstein, Patricia Churchland, David Barash, Peter Singer, Martin Daly, David Benatar, Paul Slovic, Glenn Geher, Lars Penke, Kevin Mitchell, Randolph Nesse, Bo Winegard, Cory Clark, Peter DeScioli, Daniel Nettle, Steve Stewart-Williams, Paul Slovic, Robert Trivers, Helen Fisher, Richard Haier, Nicole Barbaro, Pascal Boyer, Steven Hayes, Lee Cronk, Chris Stringer, Lyn Wadley, Donald Hoffman, Cecilia Heyes, Nicholas Humphrey, Indre Viskontas, Nicholas Christakis, Daniel Lieberman, Marco Del Giudice, Peter Ungar, Alice Eagly, Daniel Everett, Susan Pinker, and many others. On my show, you can certainly find informative, well-researched, engaging, and fun interviews on topics that will feed your intellectual interest. My income for these past two years has depended completely on the donations made by my charitable patrons and Paypal supporters, but, unfortunately, it is not enough. In today's society, scientific literacy is ever more important, and, hopefully, I have been contributing to spread knowledge outside of academia in a format that I try my best to be accessible even to laypeople. So I ask you to please consider supporting me on the platforms I will link down below. -- Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thedissenter PayPal Subscription 1 Dollar: https://tinyurl.com/yb3acuuy PayPal Subscription 3 Dollars: https://tinyurl.com/ybn6bg9l PayPal Subscription 5 Dollars: https://tinyurl.com/ycmr9gpz PayPal Subscription 10 Dollars: https://tinyurl.com/y9r3fc9m PayPal Subscription 20 Dollars: https://tinyurl.com/y95uvkao Link for one-time donation on Paypal: paypal.me/thedissenter -- A HUGE THANK YOU TO MY PATRONS/SUPPORTERS: KARIN LIETZCKE, ANN BLANCHETTE, PER HELGE LARSEN, LAU GUERREIRO, ANTÓNIO CUNHA, JERRY MULLER, FRANCIS FORDE, HANS FREDRIK SUNDE, YEVHEN BODRENKO, ADAM BJERRE, AIRES ALMEIDA, BERNARDO SEIXAS, HERBERT GINTIS, RUTGER VOS, RICARDO VLADIMIRO, BO WINEGARD, VEGA GIDEY, CRAIG HEALY, OLAF ALEX, PHILIP KURIAN, JONATHAN VISSER, DAVID DIAS, ANJAN KATTA, JAKOB KLINKBY, ADAM KESSEL, MATTHEW WHITINGBIRD, ARNAUD WOLFF, TIM HOLLOSY, HENRIK AHLENIUS, JOHN CONNORS, PAULINA BARREN, FILIP FORS CONNOLLY, DAN DEMETRIOU, ROBERT WINDHAGER, RUI INACIO, ARTHUR KOH, ZOOP, MARCO NEVES, MAX BEILBY, COLIN HOLBROOK, SUSAN PINKER, THOMAS TRUMBLE! A SPECIAL THANKS TO MY PRODUCERS, YZAR WEHBE, ROSEY, JIM FRANK, ŁUKASZ STAFINIAK, ILEWELLYN OSBORNE, IAN GILLIGAN, AND SERGIU CONDREANU! AND TO MY EXECUTIVE PRODUCER, MICHAL RUSIECKI! Also, a special thanks for people who have been supporting me in different ways along the way, like Rob Sica. And people who became my friends, like Patrick Lee Miller, Bo Winegard, Cory Clark, and Sven Nyholm.

Just this past Sunday, was the 2-year anniversary of the show. I would love to keep doing it for another 2 years, but to be honest, I am broke. In order to sustain the channel, I need your help. For these past two years, I have brought on the show some of the top academics/scholars in a diversity of fields, like Psychology, Anthropology, Cognitive Science, Neuroscience, Philosophy, and even Literary Studies. Some of the biggest names that appeared throughout my 300 interviews include: Noam Chomsky, Jerome Kagan, Randy Thornhill, Dale Purves, Michael Ruse, David Buss, Simon Blackburn, Alexander Rosenberg, Terrence Deacon, Richard Shweder, Diane Halpern, Robert Plomin, David Sloan Wilson, Richard Wrangham, Azar Gat, David C. Geary, Leda Cosmides, Todd Shackelford, Diana Fleischman, Don Ross, Gad Saad, Rebecca Newberger Goldstein, Patricia Churchland, David Barash, Peter Singer, Martin Daly, David Benatar, Paul Slovic, Glenn Geher, Lars Penke, Kevin Mitchell, Randolph Nesse, Bo Winegard, Cory Clark, Peter DeScioli, Daniel Nettle, Steve Stewart-Williams, Paul Slovic, Robert Trivers, Helen Fisher, Richard Haier, Nicole Barbaro, Pascal Boyer, Steven Hayes, Lee Cronk, Chris Stringer, Lyn Wadley, Donald Hoffman, Cecilia Heyes, Nicholas Humphrey, Indre Viskontas, Nicholas Christakis, Daniel Lieberman, Marco Del Giudice, Peter Ungar, Alice Eagly, Daniel Everett, and many others. On my show, you can certainly find informative, well-researched, engaging, and fun interviews on topics that will feed your intellectual interest. My income for these past two years has depended completely on the donations made by my charitable patrons and Paypal supporters, but, unfortunately, it is not enough. In today's society, scientific literacy is ever more important, and, hopefully, I have been contributing to spread knowledge outside of academia in a format that I try my best to be accessible even to laypeople. So I ask you to please consider supporting me on the platforms I will link down below. As a teaser, and if you become a patron of mine, you will be on time to send me questions to pose to people like Steven Pinker and Robert Sapolsky, who I will be interviewing in March. You will also get a wealth of other benefits. I am leaving a link to my Patreon page and links to monthly subscriptions on Paypal, and also a link to Paypal for a one-time big donation, if you prefer, if any of you would be generous enough to become a patron or give me a one-time big donation. Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thedissenter PayPal Subscription 1 Dollar: https://tinyurl.com/yb3acuuy PayPal Subscription 3 Dollars: https://tinyurl.com/ybn6bg9l PayPal Subscription 5 Dollars: https://tinyurl.com/ycmr9gpz PayPal Subscription 10 Dollars: https://tinyurl.com/y9r3fc9m PayPal Subscription 20 Dollars: https://tinyurl.com/y95uvkao Link for one-time donation on Paypal: paypal.me/thedissenter -- A HUGE THANK YOU TO MY PATRONS/SUPPORTERS: KARIN LIETZCKE, ANN BLANCHETTE, SCIMED, PER HELGE HAAKSTD LARSEN, LAU GUERREIRO, RUI BELEZA, ANTÓNIO CUNHA, JERRY MULLER, FRANCIS FORDE, HANS FREDRIK SUNDE, YEVHEN BODRENKO, SERGIU CODREANU, ADAM BJERRE, AIRES ALMEIDA, BERNARDO SEIXAS, HERBERT GINTIS, RUTGER VOS, RICARDO VLADIMIRO, BO WINEGARD, VEGA GIDEY, CRAIG HEALY, OLAF ALEX, PHILIP KURIAN, JONATHAN VISSER, DAVID DIAS, ANJAN KATTA, JAKOB KLINKBY, ADAM KESSEL, MATTHEW WHITINGBIRD, ARNAUD WOLFF, TIM HOLLOSY, HENRIK AHLENIUS, JOHN CONNORS, PAULINA BARREN, AND FILIP FORS CONNOLLY! A SPECIAL THANKS TO MY PRODUCERS, YZAR WEHBE, ROSEY, JIM FRANK, AND ŁUKASZ STAFINIAK! AND TO MY EXECUTIVE PRODUCER, MICHAL RUSIECKI!

------------------Support the channel------------ Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thedissenter SubscribeStar: https://www.subscribestar.com/the-dissenter PayPal: paypal.me/thedissenter PayPal Subscription 1 Dollar: https://tinyurl.com/yb3acuuy PayPal Subscription 3 Dollars: https://tinyurl.com/ybn6bg9l PayPal Subscription 5 Dollars: https://tinyurl.com/ycmr9gpz PayPal Subscription 10 Dollars: https://tinyurl.com/y9r3fc9m PayPal Subscription 20 Dollars: https://tinyurl.com/y95uvkao ------------------Follow me on--------------------- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thedissenteryt/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheDissenterYT Anchor (podcast): https://anchor.fm/thedissenter Dr. Daniel Everett is Trustee Professor of Cognitive Sciences at Bentley University. He holds a ScD and a Masters of Linguistics from the Universidade Estadual in Campinas (UNICAMP). He is well-known for his many years of field research among the Pirahã people of the Brazilian Amazon jungle. Dr. Everett's books include Dark Matter of the Mind: The Culturally Articulated Unconscious, and How Language Began: The Story of Humanity's Greatest Invention. In this episode, we talk about linguistics, and the Pirahã. First, Dr. Everett distinguishes between communication and language. He also refers to issues with Universal Grammar, and gives us his account of why H. erectus should have been the first hominin to have language. We talk about the biological tools needed for language, and the limitations in other primates' use of sign language. We refer to three different types of language (G1, G2, and G3), cultural evolution, the universal traits of language, and difficulties in distinguishing between different languages. We discuss the Whorf-Sapir hypothesis, and if there is evidence that language influences thinking. Finally, in the last ten minutes, Dr. Everett talks about the Pirahã society, their culture and language. -- Follow Dr. Everett's work: Faculty page: http://bit.ly/2k4ldgo Personal website: http://bit.ly/2VYqKn4 ResearchGate profile: http://bit.ly/2lDCv4c Books on Amazon: https://amzn.to/2lzXu8h How Language Began: The Story of Humanity's Greatest Invention: https://amzn.to/2pCdfNS Don't Sleep, There Are Snakes: Life and Language in the Amazonian Jungle: https://amzn.to/2qsvRAg -- A HUGE THANK YOU TO MY PATRONS/SUPPORTERS: KARIN LIETZCKE, ANN BLANCHETTE, SCIMED, PER HELGE HAAKSTD LARSEN, LAU GUERREIRO, RUI BELEZA, ANTÓNIO CUNHA, CHANTEL GELINAS, JERRY MULLER, FRANCIS FORDE, HANS FREDRIK SUNDE, YEVHEN BODRENKO, SERGIU CODREANU, ADAM BJERRE, AIRES ALMEIDA, BERNARDO SEIXAS, HERBERT GINTIS, RUTGER VOS, RICARDO VLADIMIRO, BO WINEGARD, VEGA GIDEY, CRAIG HEALY, OLAF ALEX, PHILIP KURIAN, JONATHAN VISSER, DAVID DIAS, ANJAN KATTA, JAKOB KLINKBY, ADAM KESSEL, MATTHEW WHITINGBIRD, ARNAUD WOLFF, TIM HOLLOSY, HENRIK AHLENIUS, AND JOHN CONNORS! A SPECIAL THANKS TO MY PRODUCERS, YZAR WEHBE, ROSEY, AND JIM FRANK, AND ŁUKASZ STAFINIAK! AND TO MY EXECUTIVE PRODUCER, MICHAL RUSIECKI!

Dag plages av en usedvanlig sosial mammadalt av en bikkje, og mener det er på tide å dømme massemordere ut fra utseendet. Gunnar er derimot overrasket over hvor lite terror som begås, og vurderer om det ville være ulovlig å publisere en DIY-ebok om terroraksjoner. Hvor mye forståelse skal man utvise til folk med håpløse og grovt umoralske standpunkt, og hvordan i all verden gikk samtalen fra islamister og terror til TV-serien Første Date og gamle filmer med Michael J Fox? Det får du bare vite hvis du hører ukens episode. Referanser: -https://forskning.no/a/1565418 -https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.independent.co.uk/voices/commentators/johann-hari/johann-hari-how-m... -https://www.amazon.com/Unveiled-Western-Liberals-Empower-Radical/dp/1999240502#immersive-view_156979... -https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/technology/2012/mar/25/daniel-everett-human-languag... -https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/authorinterviews/9186354/Daniel-Everett-lost-in-translatio... -American Anarchist, Netflix doku: https://www.netflix.com/no/title/80143794 -Jerry Seinfeld, Comedians in Cars: https://www.netflix.com/no-en/title/80171362 -Why We Hate, Discovery serie: https://www.discoveryuk.com/series/why-we-hate/ -Gunnars YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/tvilsomtmedtjomlid -Dags "Emokrati": https://www.dagsoras.com/emokrati -Tones nye YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC58Jw7PY2LszAPMnqUYPGDQ

Dag plages av en usedvanlig sosial mammadalt av en bikkje, og mener det er på tide å dømme massemordere ut fra utseendet. Gunnar er derimot overrasket over hvor lite terror som begås, og vurderer om det ville være ulovlig å publisere en DIY-ebok om terroraksjoner. Hvor mye forståelse skal man utvise til folk med håpløse og grovt umoralske standpunkt, og hvordan i all verden gikk samtalen fra islamister og terror til TV-serien Første Date og gamle filmer med Michael J Fox? Det får du bare vite hvis du hører ukens episode. Referanser: -https://forskning.no/a/1565418 -https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.independent.co.uk/voices/commentators/johann-hari/johann-hari-how-m... -https://www.amazon.com/Unveiled-Western-Liberals-Empower-Radical/dp/1999240502#immersive-view_156979... -https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/technology/2012/mar/25/daniel-everett-human-languag... -https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/authorinterviews/9186354/Daniel-Everett-lost-in-translatio... -American Anarchist, Netflix doku: https://www.netflix.com/no/title/80143794 -Jerry Seinfeld, Comedians in Cars: https://www.netflix.com/no-en/title/80171362 -Why We Hate, Discovery serie: https://www.discoveryuk.com/series/why-we-hate/ -Gunnars YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/tvilsomtmedtjomlid -Dags "Emokrati": https://www.dagsoras.com/emokrati -Tones nye YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC58Jw7PY2LszAPMnqUYPGDQ

In this episode we discuss singing and song selection in the rural church:Is singing biblical? YES!1 Chronicles 15:161 Chronicles 16:23-24Psalm 100:1-2Psalm 22:1-3Psalm 71:22-24Zephaniah 3:17 - 17Ephesians 5:19-20James 5:13Matthew 26:30Acts 16:25Who should choose the worship songs for a Sunday morning?As the shepherd of the church, the pastor should always be involved in what is being sung.How do you choose songs for worship?You should choose songs that are appropriate for the theme of the text you're preaching.This means songs that are more somber are GOOD for more somber texts!You should choose songs that are rich in theology.You should choose songs that are singable for the congregation, not just the worship leader.Where do you choose songs for worship?Hymns (Hymns of Grace)SpotifySovereign Grace MusicAustin Stone WorshipShane and ShaneNorton Hall BandMatt Merker MusicThe listener question we answer this week:Daniel Everett from Lock Haven, PA asks, "Also, I have a question that I would be interested in hearing your answer to. As a church member I recognize that pastors have a very wonderful calling from God, but that it is also a physically, emotionally, and spiritually arduous calling. What are ways that I am able to encourage my pastor(s), knowing that there are unique challenges and difficulties in the context of a rural church?"Links for our Top Two's:Crossway's ESV Scripture JournalsKeith & Kristyn Getty's SingBob Kauflin's Worship MattersJack London Short StoriesYerba Mate Tea BagsCONTACT (give us feedback, topic ideas, or just say hey)Call and leave a message at (570) 724-3741Email: ruralpastorstalk@gmail.comWebsite: http://ruralpastorstalk.buzzsprout.com/SOCIAL MEDIAFacebook: http://facebook.com/ruralpastorstalkTwitter: @ruralpastorsLISTENItunesSpotify

In this interview I talk to one of the most important and influential people working in the field of language today about the origins of language, language learning, and communication. He shares tips and techniques he has learnt from over 30 years working as a linguist, author, and philosopher. See you in class!

Marcia Bjornerud discusses how thinking about time like a geologist can help us live better on the planet. Daniel Everett talks about the importance of learning other languages in school. Mohan Sudabattula shares the story of Project Embrace, which donates used medical equipment. Matt Miller talks about the value of planting trees that you might not see bear fruit.

A short episode to tide you over this week! We discuss Arther C. Clarke's The Star (pdf), comparing and constrating it to The Sparrow. Full spoilers for both the story (it's only 4 pages, you should read it!) and The Sparrow. This is a relatively clean episode that's mostly about how and why people lose their faith and whether science fiction generally does a good job at handling this question. --- In addition, we realized that our links to related works aren't showing up in all podcatchers. Here are the links from the last episode, if you're looking for more recommendations that (we think) are better than The Sparrow - Monolingual Fieldwork by Daniel Everett (a linguist learns Hmong)- Do Elephants Have Souls? by Caitrin Keiper for the New Atlantis- Alien intelligence: the extraordinary minds of octopuses and other cephalopods by Elle Hunt- The Book of Strange New Things by Michel Faber- 1491 and 1493 by Charles Mann --- As always, we'd love to hear from you! Tweet us at @spectologypod, submit the episode at r/printSF, or email us at spectologypod@gmail.com with your thoughts about the book. Many thanks to Dubby J and Noah Bradley for doing our music and art.

Now that everyone's had time to read it, it's time to talk about The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell in detail. Did we like the book? Were the characters compelling? Did the end work for us? Was it an effective alegorical exploration of the Columbian contact with the Americas? And why are the answers to all these questions "no"? This book featured a lot of graphic imagery, so be aware we have in-depth discussions of rape, torture, and isolation in this episode.  If you'd like to skip the discussion of the plot and jump right to our deeper discussion of the themes, then jump from about 15:05 to 52:40. We wanted folks who haven't read the book recently, or don't intend to read it, to be able to understand the plot and enjoy the rest of the episode, but not everyone will want a recounting of the novel they just read. During the course of the novel we mentioned a few articles, videos, and books, including: Monolingual Fieldwork by Daniel Everett (a linguist learns Hmong) Do Elephants Have Souls? by Caitrin Keiper for the New Atlantis Alien intelligence: the extraordinary minds of octopuses and other cephalopods by Elle Hunt The Book of Strange New Things by Michel Faber 1491 and 1493 by Charles Mann Next week we'll be discussing Arthur C. Clarke's short story "The Star" (pdf) in the context of The Sparrow to compare and contrast them.  As always, we'd love to hear from you! Tweet us at @spectologypod, submit the episode at r/printSF, or email us at spectologypod@gmail.com with your thoughts about the book. Many thanks to Dubby J and Noah Bradley for doing our music and art.

Det stort sett ikke mine ideer som blir presentert her. Det er andre, mye smartere og klokere hoder som blir brukt som eksempel. Det kan dra både meg og deg littegrann høyere opp mot disse som virkelig kan det. Vi … Les videre →

This is the wrap-up video for the third month of the book club. This month we read Don’t Sleep There Snakes: Life & Language in the Amazonian Jungle by Daniel Everett.

Author and Scholar Richard Bushman joins us with Glen Nelson, founder of the Mormon Artists Group to discuss their upcoming Mormon Arts Center Festival. They also discuss a work chosen from the Church History Museum Collection by Daniel Everett, a photographer who captured an abstract image of the Provo City Center Temple. 

In this episode, Bo Bennett and Peggy Knudtson speak with author Dr. Daniel Everett. Dr. Everett is an American author and academic best known for his study of the Amazon Basin's Pirahã people and their language. He serves as Dean of Arts and Sciences at Bentley University in Waltham, Massachusetts. Daniel L. (Dan) Everett holds a ScD and a Masters of Linguistics from the Universidade Estadual in Campinas (UNICAMP), both based upon years of field research among the Pirahã people of the Brazilian Amazon jungle. He taught as an instructor and later Assistant Professor at UNI-CAMP, 1981-1986, until leaving Brazil to return to the USA. He next was appointed full professor of linguistics and anthropology at the University of Pittsburgh, where he also chaired the Department of Linguistics until 1999. At that time, Dan moved to the Amazon to live the majority of the next three years in the jungle among the Pirahãs. He left the jungle when the University of Manchester, England, offered him the position of Professor of Phonetics and Phonology.

It's been about 50 years since Noam Chomsky conclusively established that the basic structures of human language are pre-wired in our brains, not gleaned from experience. Or… maybe he didn't. While several generations of theoretical linguists have been diligently expanding the Chomskian program, another faction says there's little or no evidence for his "universal grammar" and it's time to scale back or even scrap the theory. Former innatist Daniel Everett is in now part of the opposition. On last week's show, I aired a 2007 interview with Dan talking about his adventures as a missionary turned Amazonian linguist, and how he lost faith first in Christianity and then in Chomskianism. This time, a new interview with Dan discussing his latest book, "Language: The Cultural Tool." In it, he advances the idea that grammars and other aspects of particular languages are shaped by culture.

Dan Everett is twice a heretic, having strayed from the path of Christian missionary work to become a linguist, and then breaking with the dominant branch of theoretical linguistics led by Noam Chomsky. I did a report on Dan for NPR in 2007, but I never broadcast this longer interview, from which that piece was taken. I decided to air it now because Dan will be on the show next week, talking about his new book on the origins of language. The earlier interview provides the fascinating backstory: how he went from rock n' roller to missionary to Amazonian linguist, his years in the rain forest with the isolated Pirahã tribe, their anomalous language, and how he came to doubt Chomsky's idea of universal grammar.

Since John Locke declared the child's mind a blank slate, philosophers have long debated the degree to which language-learning is innate. Are there are universal grammatical features that all languages share? Daniel Everett, who has spent many years among the Piraha, an Amazonian people who have a highly unusual language, believes that some of Noam Chomsky's claims about language acquisition are mistaken. Listen to him discussing the nature of language with Nigel Warburton in this episode of the Philosophy Bites podcast. Philosophy Bites is made in association with The Institute of Philosophy

Is human language an innate characteristic of the human brain? Is there a universal grammar? Or, is language inherently tied to society and cultural forces? On this program, Prof. Daniel Everett discussed linguistics, the Piraha, and religion in Dont Sleep There are Snakes.

Co-host Dan Barker will talk about recently experiencing the bizarre creationism museum in Kentucky. Brad Pitt's nonreligion and new Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayer's request for "divine guidance" will get some play. Interviewed will be linguist and Daniel Everett, author of Don't Sleep, There are Snakes: Life and Language in the Amazonian Jungle (2008). In an amazing adventure, Everett--a missionary to the Pirahas dedicated to learning their language in order to proselytize them--left the Amazon free of religion.

The Pirahã, a remote Amazonian tribe with little outside contact, have attracted the attention of mainstream media, scientists, zen buddhists, professors of religion, mathematicians, philosophers and others because of their unusual confluence of values, language, and culture. Now, after 20 years of high intellectual and physical adventure living among them, Dan Everett proposes a revolution in anthropology and linguistics: culture profoundly shapes language, even at the most fundamental level. What happens when a language-culture pairing like the Pirahãs' is lost? The Pirahãs are not alone in their lessons and knowledge for all of us -- there are hundreds of endangered languages in the world -- but their example provides a remarkably clear example of alternative knowledge and ways of talking of importance to all of us as we ponder how we should try to build future lives. Everett is author of Don't Sleep, There Are Snakes: Life and Language in the Amazon Jungle (02008) and is Chair of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures at Illinois State University.