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Learn more about Dr. Barenholtz:

• Elan's substack
• Elan on X
• Elan's lab
• Elan's YouTube channel

Join host Garrett Oyama in this thought-provoking episode of Beyond Words, featuring Dr. Elan Barenholtz, cognitive scientist and professor of psychology at Florida Atlantic University. Together, they explore Dr. Barenholtz’s compelling theory that language is not invented, but discovered—emerging from structured, sequential patterns much like music. They dive deep into the concept of language as an autoregressive system, where meaning arises not from static symbols but from dynamic movement through linguistic space. Key topics include the aesthetics of syntax, the parallels between language and jazz improvisation, and what large language models can teach us about human communication. With implications for AI, language development, and clinical practice, this episode offers a paradigm-shifting view of how we speak, think, and understand the world.

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Description:

What shapes the way humans speak? In this episode of Beyond Words, Garrett Oyama sits down with Dr. Ted Gibson, professor of cognitive science at MIT and director of the MIT Language Lab, to explore how language emerges from cognitive and communicative pressures.

From Amazonian hunter-gatherer languages with no number words, to cross-linguistic patterns explained by dependency length minimization, Ted shares insights from decades of research across dozens of languages. We also discuss why syntax matters for communication, how brain imaging separates language from thought, and what this means for speech-language pathologists, educators, and anyone fascinated by human cognition.

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What does it take to make sense of the sound soup that surrounds a newborn? In this episode of Beyond Words, Garrett Oyama sits down with Dr. Jenny Saffran—pioneer of infant statistical learning—to explore how babies transform streams of speech into meaningful language, all without seeing “white spaces” between words.

Together, they dive into:

• How infants use statistical learning to segment and group sounds
• Why the brain’s ability to track syllable patterns is like a built-in prediction engine
• How context and the physical environment (like shape-sorter toys!) support early word learning
• New work applying eye-tracking to understand language in children with cerebral palsy
• The intersection of music, language, and domain-general learning mechanisms

Dr. Saffran also weighs in on nature vs. nurture, the rise of large language models, and why infants may be motivated not by communication—but by the desire to grip the world with meaning.

Whether you’re a speech therapist, a cognitive science fan, or just fascinated by how humans learn to speak, this conversation opens up wonder and insight on every level.