"Language is froth on the surface of thought"
- John McCarthy
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John McCarthy, a computer system researcher and AI pioneer, once stated that language is simply "froth on the surface area of thought." This provocative declaration suggests that language is not the essence of human cognition or intelligence, but simply a tool we utilize to express our ideas. According to McCarthy, what actually matters is the underlying thought processes that make language possible. To put it simply, language is not the compound of our concepts, but simply an automobile for conveying them to others. This idea has important implications for the research study of language and the advancement of artificial intelligence, as it recommends that language may not be the most essential element of understanding and interacting with other intelligent beings.
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