Making stuff up as you go along. Selectively.

Making stuff up as you go along. Selectively.

When you talk do you just make stuff up as you go along, or do you plan ahead? And what does your grammar have to say about that? Three new findings about planning ahead while speaking tell a surprisingly consistent story. They take us from a long-standing worry about...
Predicting and learning

Predicting and learning

If I’m hurriedly packing to go home to Blighty for a few days, I’ll likely pull out a raincoat. It’s a safe bet, right? But if I have a little more time on my hands, I might look up the detailed forecast, and find that it’s more likely to snow (a rare event in the...
Now for something completely different

Now for something completely different

A conversation in a subway station with a senior professor when I was a frustrated graduate student really stuck with me. I think I must have been lamenting my bad fortunes in the conference submission game. I figured that the star professor didn’t have to deal with...