?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Adc&rft.title=Why+and+How+the+Problem+of+the+Evolution+of+Universal+Grammar+(UG)+is+Hard&rft.creator=Harnad%2C+Stevan&rft.subject=Syntax&rft.subject=Evolution&rft.subject=Evolutionary+Psychology&rft.description=Universal+Grammar+(UG)+is+a+complicated+set+of+grammatical+rules+that+underlies+our+grammatical+capacity.+We+all+follow+the+rules+of+UG%2C+but+we+were+never+taught+them%2C+and+we+could+not+have+learned+them+from+trial+and+error+experience+either+(not+enough+data%2C+or+time).+So+UG+must+be+inborn.+But+for+similar+reasons%2C+it+seems+implausible+that+UG+was+%E2%80%9Clearned%E2%80%9D+by+trial+and+error+evolution+either%3A+What+was+the+variation+and+competition%3F+And+what+were+UG%E2%80%99s+adaptive+advantages%3F+So+this+leaves+the+hard+problem+of+explaining+where+our+brain%E2%80%99s+UG+capacity+came+from.+Christiansen+%26+Chater+(C%26C)+suggest+an+answer%3A+Language+is+an+organism%2C+like+us%2C+and+our+brains+were+not+selected+for+UG+capacity%3B+rather%2C+languages+were+selected+for+learnability+with+minimal+trial+and+error+experience+by+our+brains.+This+explanation+is+circular%3A+Where+did+our+brains%E2%80%99+selective+capacity+to+learn+all+and+only+UG-compliant+languages+come+from%3F+Chomsky+suggests+it+might+be+a+combination+of+optimality+and+logical+necessity.&rft.publisher=Cambridge+University+Press&rft.date=2008-04-01&rft.type=Journal+(On-line%2FUnpaginated)&rft.type=NonPeerReviewed&rft.format=text%2Fhtml&rft.identifier=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F6008%2F1%2FC%2526CBBSlong.html&rft.format=other&rft.identifier=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F6008%2F2%2FC%2526CBBSlong.rtf&rft.format=text%2Fhtml&rft.identifier=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F6008%2F3%2FC%2526CBBSshort.html&rft.identifier=++Harnad%2C+Stevan++(2008)+Why+and+How+the+Problem+of+the+Evolution+of+Universal+Grammar+(UG)+is+Hard.++%5BJournal+(On-line%2FUnpaginated)%5D++++(In+Press)++&rft.relation=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F6008%2F