Sorry I missed you! We were pretty slammed. Hopefully we can hang out sometime. D&D??

I brought my mom in for a guest lecture today. She did zero prep and killed it

Board game map with Mayan glyphs

Working on a new board game prototype for the first time in a long time...

First day of xenolinguistics class! I have the coolest job in the world 👽🌍

Me: we didn't get anything done this past year, but at least we didn't spend any of our seed grant money!

PI: actually it makes us look bad if our neuroimaging center can't produce research even when we give people free money to do so

Me: ah, well

I will only add to this post that a lot of deaf ASL signers do read English, which is frankly pretty incredible given that it represents a language they've never heard and don't speak (English).
This would be like reading Korean fluently despite not knowing how any of it is supposed to sound!

Absolute classic!

"you remind me of that fat slob comedian with the annoying laugh"
"you remind me of an oscar-winning dramatic actor"
"wow, yikes"

Get hype

ACK ACK!

I find blind sight really fascinating, but @bayesandbounds.bsky.social has been trying to convince me it's not real! It's definitely worth looking into.

Couldn't agree more

Thanks Jamie!

Language of Mind YouTube video by Language of Mind

And if you're curious where my profile picture came from, I'll leave you with this!
youtu.be/mN9XXU70V_Y

If there's anything you think would make an interesting cog sci video, let me know! I'm always looking for new topics, and I don't intend to stop making these!

Oh, and happy new year! 🎉

I hope you guys enjoy these! I have many more in the pipeline. Right now I'm working on two videos - one about Kiki-Bouba (if you haven't heard of this, google it! There are so many great memes), and another about the secret science of brand names (did you know there are linguists who work on this?)

The deep evolutionary roots of language YouTube video by Language of Mind

My very first video!
The evolution of language is a huge mess of unanswered questions, but one linguist thinks he's found an interesting connection between some universals of human language and animal cognition. Can this tell us something about where language came from?

youtu.be/CxzndPCOSV8

Hearing lips and seeing voices: The science of the McGurk Effect YouTube video by Language of Mind

You're likely familiar with optical illusions, but did you know there are also auditory illusions? The McGurk Effect is a classic illusion where what we see fundamentally changes what we hear!
And this strange experience can tell us a lot about how we perceive the world! 👁️👂
youtu.be/eKuFaIHrH00

Alternate realities, or false memory? The Mandela Effect explained YouTube video by Language of Mind

Ever have a vivid memory of something, and then find out it never existed? You're not alone! The Mandela Effect is a common experience where our memory of an object or event turns out to be false. Some think it's evidence of alternate timelines. What does cog sci say?

youtu.be/x61EL6y3gQM

Can Machines Think? A brief history and philosophy of AI YouTube video by Language of Mind

My first entry in the Cog Sci Mind Challenge - Can machines think? With help from some former students, we explore the history and philosophy of artificial intelligence from the Turing Test to the Chinese Room.

We won second place for this one! 🥈
youtu.be/HNcVxMnMupk

What textbooks get wrong about language and the brain YouTube video by Language of Mind

You've probably heard about Broca's and Wernicke's Areas - brain areas responsible for language production and comprehension. This is the basic story in every textbook. The only problem is... it's wrong!

Research of the last 50 years has challenged this view - time to update!
youtu.be/iOkLKwAMyKQ

Was T-Rex as smart as a baboon? The science of dinosaur brains YouTube video by Language of Mind

Do you love dinosaurs? I know I do! So I made a video about dinosaur brains!
How smart were the dinosaurs? Maybe smarter than you think! At least one neuroscientist thinks T-Rex may have been as smart as a baboon - smart enough to have culture and maybe even... use tools!

youtu.be/U62weE3bA0g

A language created by children unlocks a deep mystery: The science of word order YouTube video by Language of Mind

On the topic of Nicaraguan Sign Language, did you know that this new language can help us solve a linguistic mystery? 40% of the world's languages have the same word order - the same order that mysteriously appeared in Nicaraguan Sign Language!

How could this be? Watch 👇
youtu.be/5X5QPj8_boo

Why are there so many languages? The science of language change YouTube video by Language of Mind

Another entry in the Cog Sci Mind Challenge - why are there so many languages? Unfortunately, we didn't place.
But I'm still super proud of this video that charts the course of language change in England, the Pacific, all the way to a brand new sign language in Nicaragua!

youtu.be/bL77-yX91CI

Jumping lumberjacks, stone age tools, and language? The (weird) science of Tourette Syndrome YouTube video by Language of Mind

Not gonna lie, this is a weird one. The story of Tourette Syndrome is a strange one that winds its way from 19th century pseudo-science to modern neurolinguistics and all the way back to the stone age.
And the life of Gilles de la Tourette is just as strange!

youtu.be/WyqmmKNrKeg

10 most important books in Cognitive Science YouTube video by Language of Mind

Last new year's, I hung out with my friend Joseph @bayesandbounds.bsky.social to talk about the 100 most influential works in cognitive science. All the big names are here: Turing, Fodor, Marr, Miller, (Joseph's favorite) Herb Simon, and of course - Noam Chomsky!

youtu.be/Zu6ZoZsRGG0

Can language change the way you think? The science of Arrival YouTube video by Language of Mind

Speaking of sci-fi languages, the 2016 movie Arrival uses an alien language to explore the way a language might fundamentally change the way we think. But what does the science say?

If you haven't seen the movie yet, go watch it! Then, watch this 👇
youtu.be/lIPi3OiaG3I

Fixing Hollywood's sci-fi problem: The science of alien languages YouTube video by Language of Mind

I'm not shy about the fact that I think most "alien" languages created for movies are just... lame. They're almost always just human languages with little tweaks! But what could an actual alien language sound like? There are so many possibilities...

youtu.be/oHooIE_16Zw

Why do we forget? The neuroscience of memory YouTube video by Language of Mind

My most recent video was created for the Cog Sci Society's annual Mind Challenge - a contest to make the best 5-minute video on a chosen question for a general audience.
In the video, I take a trip into my own brain to see how memories form and disappear. We won first place! 🏆

youtu.be/qGANd8o2yFE

It's a new year, so I thought I'd do a thread highlighting some of the content from my Cog Sci YouTube channel - Language of Mind!

I'm really into language, the brain, cognition, and the connection between them - and I love science communication. So I made YouTube videos!