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Tuesday, October 1, 2013

One Year Old

September 28th was Faculty of Language's first birthday. I started this blog partially out of pique (see here) (there has been lots of junk written about FL and UG and the Chomsky program both in the media and by undeservedly prominent practitioners (you know who they are, but here's a hint: E and L are biggies), partially out of boredom and partially out of the desire to stimulate conversation of the large themes that got me interested in doing linguistics in the first place, but which I thought are often treated as ornamental, rather than essential, to the enterprise. I thought that some polemics would be a very good thing and that it would enable the interested to find and engage in heated debate about ideas that matter to what we (or at least I) do.  I have tried to concentrate on the relevant ideas rather than the personalities (though it is for you to judge how well this has been accomplished) and I have very lightly edited the comments section allowing everyone but advertisers (there have been some who have tried to sell their wares here for some misguided reason) to have their say.  I believe that it is fair game to go after intellectual positions hammer and tong, no holds barred. I also believe that one should not impugn motives or character. There is a fine line here, for academics identify strongly with their ideas and an attack on these is hard to distinguish from an attack on the soul. However, they are NOT the same. Smart people, even brilliant people, can be wrong (even profoundly so), and attacking their views is not the same as attacking them. So on this first anniversary of the blog, let me thank all those that agreed to play along by contributing posts, by writing (often vigorous) comments and by sending me material that they thought I might like to post. The first year's been fun and relatively successful (over 175,000 visitors to the blog). I have learned a lot and have been continually enlightened and/or entertained. I look forward to the second.

9 comments:

  1. Norbert,

    I don't agree with you all the time (though certainly more often than some others here), but I want to thank you for creating and sustaining this blog with such energy, intelligence and enthusiasm. Much needed and much appreciated!

    -David

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  2. Definitely. Educational and entertaining!

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  3. I came here for the cat pictures, and I've been disappointed.

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  4. I have learned a huge amount too. Thanks. I spend too much time talking to people I agree with, and this blog is a useful (vital) corrective.

    A favourite quote (from JS Mill) : Both teachers and learners go to sleep at their post as soon as there is no enemy in the field.

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  5. My (selfish) congratulation: Let the second year keep pace with the first.

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  6. I don't agree with you nearly as often as David P does, but I also want to thank you for creating and maintaining this blog. And, I like to thank the many contributors for their interesting comments.

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  7. Hi Norbert, i also wanted to chip in to thank you for the enormous amount of time and effort you must've put into writing and maintaining the blog. It very quickly became essential reading for me, and in many cases has helped me get to grips with stuff i've came across in textbooks/class but hadn't properly understood. Keep up the good work!

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  8. I'll chime in with thanks and praise, too. This has become one of my favorite blogs, and I'm looking forward to year two, too.

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  9. Me too. Taken over from the Guardian as morning coffee reading and thinking. Also a reminder to those of us in horrific admin jobs that there are fun and fascinating things to think about.

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