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The redundancy of recursion and infinity for natural language
1Institute of Computer Science, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia. erkkil@gmail.com
Cognitive Processing
|July 24, 2010
Summary
Recursion may not be necessary for human language and arithmetic. Iteration, a simpler process, can explain these cognitive abilities and their perceived infinity. Natural language is finite, not infinitely discrete.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Science
- Linguistics
- Psychology
Background:
- A dominant theory posits recursion as essential for human natural language and arithmetic processing.
- Recursion is considered a key characteristic of human cognitive abilities.
Purpose of the Study:
- To challenge the necessity of recursion in cognitive processing.
- To propose iteration as a sufficient alternative for explaining language and arithmetic.
- To re-evaluate the nature of infinity in linguistic and arithmetic competence.
Main Methods:
- Theoretical argumentation comparing recursion and iteration.
- Analysis of the concept of infinity in cognitive tasks.
- Examination of the properties of natural language.
Main Results:
- Iteration is sufficient to account for natural language and arithmetic performance.
- The perceived infinity in these domains is achievable through iteration, not exclusively recursion.
- The ability to conceive of infinite embedding/concatenation is distinct from infinite processing capabilities.
Conclusions:
- Recursion is not a mandatory component of human cognitive processing for language and arithmetic.
- Iteration offers a more parsimonious explanation for these abilities.
- Natural language exhibits uncountable finity, contradicting the notion of discrete infinity.
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