RE: Re:

cells signal each other by various means. . chemical gas . electrical, . , multicellular other chemicals. wider range of signals.

some sigals internal some external. . why is not " language merely a signal for internal use . organ to organ, sense to sense. the eyes telling nose where to turn. etc. . and then it gets vocalized for external signalling as part of a repertoire. gesture prosody etc. is there a universal vocalization , OW for example, when pain sensors engage? and vocalize as a by product of the info transfer. . I love to see how your wife takes care of you. great great great

She is great, great, great. But for the moment, roles reversed. Valeria tore a muscle lifting something that she shouldn't have. Had to call of our trip. Last one was called off because I broke a rib. Maybe the next one because our dog will have a nervous breakdown.

It's certainly true that there are all kinds of information transfer. Human language, a particular biological object, can also be used for this purpose (though it is hard to comprehend the common claim that this is its "function"). Suppose, however, that we limit ourselves to organ-to-organ signaling. Would it be appropriate to ask why chemical signals are not "merely a signal for internal use", just like electrical, linguistic, other? I don't think so. We would want to know what chemical signals are and how they work, and the same for electrical, linguistic, etc. They are all radically different, and their particular nature is the object of inquiry into them.

And again, linguistic systems are radically different from the others in that signaling is only one of many uses of language, statistically speaking (for what that's' worth, probably not much) a very minor one. And crucially, investigation of the nature of language has, I think, yielded mounting and significant evidence that in the design of language externalization altogether is a peripheral property, largely a reflex of whatever sensory modality is used, hence special uses such as communication even more so.

does that mean your israel trip is off?

Everything called off.

oy . we have great physical therapist. orthopedist whatever she needs.

She has a very good doctor, who we were able to see yesterday. But when she recovers from the torn muscle, might need a physical therapist. Right now we're trying to get through day to day.

Noam

back? leg?

Back. She tried lifting something she shouldn't have. Doctor says it'll go away IF she takes care of herself. That's the problem. Have to watch her like a hawk.

reciprocal altruism at work

Hah. One for Bob Trivers.

i am his major funder. he got thrown out of rutgers for good this time

Good choice. He's a great scientist and fine guy. Thrown out of Rutgers? I didn't hear anything about that. Was just down there for talks. Should have asked.

Off to work, but only for an hour. Can't leave Valeria alone.