--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Thus three conclusions emerge from the…" description: "\"“Thus three conclusions emerge from the eye story: (1) it is easier to inherit a ‘vision acquisition device’ than a full-blown hard-wired visual analys..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b32/john-maynard-smith-28856_language_thus-three-conclusions-emerge-from-the-e_2211029.png" --- # Thus three conclusions emerge from the eye story: (1) it… ![“Thus three conclusions emerge from the eye story: (1) it is easier to inherit a ‘vision acquisition device’ than a full-blown hard-wired visual analyser; (2) the visual analyser, once ‘set up’, is refractory to radical restructuring—hence the existence of a critical period in its development in…” quote by John Maynard Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b32/john-maynard-smith-28856_language_thus-three-conclusions-emerge-from-the-e_2211029.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b32/john-maynard-smith-28856_language_thus-three-conclusions-emerge-from-the-e_2211029.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b32/john-maynard-smith-28856_language_thus-three-conclusions-emerge-from-the-e_2211029.png) > ““Thus three conclusions emerge from the eye story: (1) it is easier to inherit a ‘vision acquisition device’ than a full-blown hard-wired visual analyser; (2) the visual analyser, once ‘set up’, is refractory to radical restructuring—hence the existence of a critical period in its development in cats; (3) the eye seems to have evolved in steps from a light-sensitive, innervated cell to our complex organ by common evolutionary mechanisms. Something similar may have been taking place in evolution of the language organ, and may be occurring during individual development. An argument, put forward forcefully by Noam Chomsky and his followers, refers to the ‘poverty of stimulus’. Most permutations of word order and grammatical items in a sentence leads to incomprehensible gibberish. There is no way that children could learn without some internal ‘guide’ which sentence is grammatical and which is not, only on the basis of heard examples. To make matters worse, many parents do not correct their children’s grammatical mistakes (they seem to be much more worried about the utterance of four-letter words). Recent investigations clearly confirm that children’s ‘instinctive’ understanding of grammatical intricacies, between the ages 2 and 4, is far better than one would expect from a conventional learning mechanism. Thus there seems to be a ‘language acquisition device’ (LAD) in the brain, which must be triggered by linguistic input so that its working ultimately leads to proper language. It is the LAD, and not a fully developed linguistic processor, which seems to be innate.”” [John Maynard Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-maynard-smith/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The eye and language likely evolved incrementally, with innate mechanisms guiding development despite limited external input. **In simple terms:** Complex systems develop stepwise with built‑in guides. Key Takeaway Recognize innate capacities when learning. Themes evolution development language acquisition Mood analytical inquisitive Type theoretical explanatory When to use this quote - language education - neuroscience research - child development - AI language models Key Concepts critical periods innate mechanisms learning constraints Questions to Reflect On - How does innate structure influence learning? - What role do external inputs play? A Different Perspective Innate guides may be overestimated without empirical proof. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Children Grammatical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children-grammatical-4895827/) [Developed Linguistic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/developed-linguistic-4895826/) [Instinctive Understanding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/instinctive-understanding-4895825/) [Language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language/) [Language acquisition](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language-acquisition/) [Linguistic Input](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/linguistic-input-4895828/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/noam-chomsky/) ## Related quotes > [I ended up doing four or five plays in college and being an English major with my thesis in language acquisition, which I was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-coon/i-ended-up-doing-four-or-five-plays-in-college-and-being-an-english/) [Carrie Coon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-coon/) > [What is a nation without a mother tongue?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-edwards/what-is-a-nation-without-a-mother-tongue/) [Jack Edwards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-edwards/) > [To use two languages familiarly and without contaminating one by the other, is very difficult; and to use more than two is hardly to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/to-use-two-languages-familiarly-and-without-contaminating-one-by-the/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [“educators of English learners should be well-versed in theories of second language acquisition and in methodologies such as sheltering and scaffolding. 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Something similar may have been taking place in evolution of the language organ, and may be occurring during individual development. An argument, put forward forcefully by Noam Chomsky and his followers, refers to the ‘poverty of stimulus’. Most permutations of word order and grammatical items in a sentence leads to incomprehensible gibberish. There is no way that children could learn without some internal ‘guide’ which sentence is grammatical and which is not, only on the basis of heard examples. To make matters worse, many parents do not correct their children’s grammatical mistakes (they seem to be much more worried about the utterance of four-letter words). Recent investigations clearly confirm that children’s ‘instinctive’ understanding of grammatical intricacies, between the ages 2 and 4, is far better than one would expect from a conventional learning mechanism. 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