The kingdom of speech

This book is just a massive "fuck you" to Noam Chomsky and to the proposition that speech & language are intrinsic evolved biological constructs rather than an artifact developed and honed by humans. And wow is the author fantastically ticked off about the whole situation — with zero hesitation about telling us what he thinks.

I think it's an utterly meaningless debate. Language is a technology, for sure. It requires certain biology to use, and a perhaps not-identical biology to develop. It's been around a while, and clearly makes up part of humanity's epigenetic profile of adaptation and fitness. I want to say that this makes for a pointless book, but the core thesis is, as discussed, "fuck Noam Chomsky in particular", and that's a message I can get behind.

This book is sadly a huge waste of time, as Wolfe uses it to attempt to smear academics he doesn't like. It offers no new information, and grows increasingly hostile in its personal attacks.

A very disappointing tribal inoculation against Chomsky's idea of generative grammar. Its ad hominem attacks against Chomsky and, oddly, Charles Darwin are clarified in the final chapter of the book, when it's revealed Wolfe's real agenda is to push his religion, against which he feels academics unfairly attack.

His thesis that language is a cultural artifact rather than an innate human ability is supported by nothing more than increasingly loud assertions. It's disappointing that he doesn't support the idea with anything, and even more disappointing that he thinks he can poopoo other theories with nothing more than bile and vinegar, and have his reader blindly accept his position. His strongest arguments against Chomsky come from Chomsky himself, which only shows Chomsky is aware of his theories' weak points, and wants to publicize then in order to spur discussion.