Thom Scott-Phillips
@thomscottphillips.bsky.social
Language, Psychology, Culture, Philosophy, Society, Evolution • When not doing science I dance the lindy hop
https://linktr.ee/thomscottphillips
https://linktr.ee/thomscottphillips
Pinned
Why Do Humans Have Linguistic Intuition?
| Cadernos de Linguística
cadernos.abralin.org
Why do humans have linguistic intuition? And why should you care?
A short thread about my new paper in @cadlin.bsky.social
This work has the most original insight I've ever had, a genuinely new idea about the nature of language
cadernos.abralin.org/index.php/ca...
1/20
A short thread about my new paper in @cadlin.bsky.social
This work has the most original insight I've ever had, a genuinely new idea about the nature of language
cadernos.abralin.org/index.php/ca...
1/20
Reposted by Thom Scott-Phillips
There’s an old piece of wisdom about progress in science and ideas: you can’t fully understand what someone is saying until you know who it is they’re disagreeing with
General lesson is that even if unconscious, almost all agendas are motivated in part by (perceived) failings of previous generation
General lesson is that even if unconscious, almost all agendas are motivated in part by (perceived) failings of previous generation
January 20, 2026 at 11:39 AM
There’s an old piece of wisdom about progress in science and ideas: you can’t fully understand what someone is saying until you know who it is they’re disagreeing with
General lesson is that even if unconscious, almost all agendas are motivated in part by (perceived) failings of previous generation
General lesson is that even if unconscious, almost all agendas are motivated in part by (perceived) failings of previous generation
Reposted by Thom Scott-Phillips
arxiv.org/abs/2601.11432
I want to share an astonishing result. LLMs can "translate" Jabberwocky' texts like 'He dwushed a ghanc zawk” & even and even 'In the BLANK BLANK, BLANK BLANK has BLANK over any BLANK BLANK’s BLANK' This has profound consequence for thinking about.. 1/2
I want to share an astonishing result. LLMs can "translate" Jabberwocky' texts like 'He dwushed a ghanc zawk” & even and even 'In the BLANK BLANK, BLANK BLANK has BLANK over any BLANK BLANK’s BLANK' This has profound consequence for thinking about.. 1/2
arxiv.org
January 19, 2026 at 3:27 AM
arxiv.org/abs/2601.11432
I want to share an astonishing result. LLMs can "translate" Jabberwocky' texts like 'He dwushed a ghanc zawk” & even and even 'In the BLANK BLANK, BLANK BLANK has BLANK over any BLANK BLANK’s BLANK' This has profound consequence for thinking about.. 1/2
I want to share an astonishing result. LLMs can "translate" Jabberwocky' texts like 'He dwushed a ghanc zawk” & even and even 'In the BLANK BLANK, BLANK BLANK has BLANK over any BLANK BLANK’s BLANK' This has profound consequence for thinking about.. 1/2
Lots of talk lately about the post-literate society. The phenomenon is defo real, but I am not sure the terminology is right
Because people are still literate. It’s more post-reading. But even that doesn’t feel right because again, people are reading
Because people are still literate. It’s more post-reading. But even that doesn’t feel right because again, people are reading
January 16, 2026 at 9:57 AM
Lots of talk lately about the post-literate society. The phenomenon is defo real, but I am not sure the terminology is right
Because people are still literate. It’s more post-reading. But even that doesn’t feel right because again, people are reading
Because people are still literate. It’s more post-reading. But even that doesn’t feel right because again, people are reading
Reposted by Thom Scott-Phillips
Peer Review is broken because a generation of Editors were trained that peer review is sacrosanct. Thus we have Editors who are clerks, sending and re-sending manuscripts to reviewers until they are happy. That's not the job. Be an Editor, not a clerk. Use your skill and judgement. Make decisions.
January 14, 2026 at 7:59 PM
Peer Review is broken because a generation of Editors were trained that peer review is sacrosanct. Thus we have Editors who are clerks, sending and re-sending manuscripts to reviewers until they are happy. That's not the job. Be an Editor, not a clerk. Use your skill and judgement. Make decisions.
Reposted by Thom Scott-Phillips
You're right. @trinityhallcamb.bsky.social is damaging its own reputation and that of the wider university. Oxbridge has moved in the right direction over the past two decades, creating a positive impression to the wider sector. This news undoes that
January 7, 2026 at 9:41 PM
You're right. @trinityhallcamb.bsky.social is damaging its own reputation and that of the wider university. Oxbridge has moved in the right direction over the past two decades, creating a positive impression to the wider sector. This news undoes that
Reposted by Thom Scott-Phillips
I was a first generation university student from a working class background who went to Cambridge and have gone on to teach in State schools in areas of significant social deprivation, with a specific remit of increasing aspiration and supporting students in 1/
www.theguardian.com/education/20...
www.theguardian.com/education/20...
Cambridge college to target elite private schools for student recruitment
Exclusive: Trinity Hall’s new policy described as a ‘slap in the face’ for state-educated students
www.theguardian.com
January 7, 2026 at 9:13 PM
I was a first generation university student from a working class background who went to Cambridge and have gone on to teach in State schools in areas of significant social deprivation, with a specific remit of increasing aspiration and supporting students in 1/
www.theguardian.com/education/20...
www.theguardian.com/education/20...
Reposted by Thom Scott-Phillips
Dear listeners: We would like to solicit questions from our audience for upcoming episodes. If you have questions you'd like us to tackle (either with a guest, or on our own). Please ask them here in this space. Or send us an email at: [email protected]. Happy New Year!
January 3, 2026 at 2:18 PM
Dear listeners: We would like to solicit questions from our audience for upcoming episodes. If you have questions you'd like us to tackle (either with a guest, or on our own). Please ask them here in this space. Or send us an email at: [email protected]. Happy New Year!
Wow, Zweig is really great writing!
I have The World Of Yesterday to read after this
I have The World Of Yesterday to read after this
December 22, 2025 at 1:17 PM
Wow, Zweig is really great writing!
I have The World Of Yesterday to read after this
I have The World Of Yesterday to read after this
Reposted by Thom Scott-Phillips
I agree. The tech is only highlighting existing issues. Publishing, reviewing, citations as proxy indicators of quality: all of this is a mess and anybody paying attention knows it. LLMs are just exploiting what is already there
December 20, 2025 at 8:57 PM
I agree. The tech is only highlighting existing issues. Publishing, reviewing, citations as proxy indicators of quality: all of this is a mess and anybody paying attention knows it. LLMs are just exploiting what is already there
Excellent piece by @mmitchell.bsky.social. AI excels at predictive tasks but is poor with generative tasks
I like the predictive-generative distinction. Important but easy to lose sight of
www.technologyreview.com/2025/12/15/1...
I like the predictive-generative distinction. Important but easy to lose sight of
www.technologyreview.com/2025/12/15/1...
Generative AI hype distracts us from AI’s more important breakthroughs
It's a seductive distraction from the advances in AI that are most likely to improve or even save your life
www.technologyreview.com
December 21, 2025 at 3:41 AM
Excellent piece by @mmitchell.bsky.social. AI excels at predictive tasks but is poor with generative tasks
I like the predictive-generative distinction. Important but easy to lose sight of
www.technologyreview.com/2025/12/15/1...
I like the predictive-generative distinction. Important but easy to lose sight of
www.technologyreview.com/2025/12/15/1...
Reposted by Thom Scott-Phillips
The real breakthrough of the year -- something that matters far, far more than generative AI ever will.
Science has named the seemingly unstoppable growth of renewable energy worldwide as the 2025 Breakthrough of the Year.
Learn more about this year's #BOTY and other big advances in science: https://scim.ag/493Tpgx
Learn more about this year's #BOTY and other big advances in science: https://scim.ag/493Tpgx
December 19, 2025 at 4:14 PM
The real breakthrough of the year -- something that matters far, far more than generative AI ever will.
December 19, 2025 at 9:15 AM
Reposted by Thom Scott-Phillips
Thom Scott-Phillips presents a novel analysis of people's spontaneous intuitions about sentence acceptability "grounded in theoretical and empirical knowledge from cognitive linguistics, cognitive psychology and evolutionary approaches to the mind." cadernos.abralin.org/index.php/ca...
Why Do Humans Have Linguistic Intuition?
| Cadernos de Linguística
cadernos.abralin.org
December 18, 2025 at 7:11 PM
Thom Scott-Phillips presents a novel analysis of people's spontaneous intuitions about sentence acceptability "grounded in theoretical and empirical knowledge from cognitive linguistics, cognitive psychology and evolutionary approaches to the mind." cadernos.abralin.org/index.php/ca...
Reposted by Thom Scott-Phillips
Why do humans have linguistic intuition? And why should you care?
A short thread about my new paper in @cadlin.bsky.social
This work has the most original insight I've ever had, a genuinely new idea about the nature of language
cadernos.abralin.org/index.php/ca...
1/20
A short thread about my new paper in @cadlin.bsky.social
This work has the most original insight I've ever had, a genuinely new idea about the nature of language
cadernos.abralin.org/index.php/ca...
1/20
Why Do Humans Have Linguistic Intuition?
| Cadernos de Linguística
cadernos.abralin.org
December 15, 2025 at 4:14 PM
Why do humans have linguistic intuition? And why should you care?
A short thread about my new paper in @cadlin.bsky.social
This work has the most original insight I've ever had, a genuinely new idea about the nature of language
cadernos.abralin.org/index.php/ca...
1/20
A short thread about my new paper in @cadlin.bsky.social
This work has the most original insight I've ever had, a genuinely new idea about the nature of language
cadernos.abralin.org/index.php/ca...
1/20
Reposted by Thom Scott-Phillips
‘There is a distinction between AI safety, which is hypothetical, and AI harm, which is happening now. For one thing, much of the data on which AI models have been trained is stolen – including, as it happens, from me.’
John Lanchester in the new issue, online early.
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
John Lanchester in the new issue, online early.
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
John Lanchester · King of Cannibal Island: Will the AI bubble burst?
Nvidia shares are the purest bet you can make on the impact of AI. The leading firms are lending money to one another in...
www.lrb.co.uk
December 16, 2025 at 12:10 PM
‘There is a distinction between AI safety, which is hypothetical, and AI harm, which is happening now. For one thing, much of the data on which AI models have been trained is stolen – including, as it happens, from me.’
John Lanchester in the new issue, online early.
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
John Lanchester in the new issue, online early.
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Reposted by Thom Scott-Phillips
What if the feeling that a sentence is “odd” doesn’t come from grammar at all?
An open review highlights how Why Do Humans Have Linguistic Intuition? reframes acceptability as a matter of communicative relevance, not rule checking.
Read the article: doi.org/10.25189/267...
An open review highlights how Why Do Humans Have Linguistic Intuition? reframes acceptability as a matter of communicative relevance, not rule checking.
Read the article: doi.org/10.25189/267...
December 15, 2025 at 8:23 PM
What if the feeling that a sentence is “odd” doesn’t come from grammar at all?
An open review highlights how Why Do Humans Have Linguistic Intuition? reframes acceptability as a matter of communicative relevance, not rule checking.
Read the article: doi.org/10.25189/267...
An open review highlights how Why Do Humans Have Linguistic Intuition? reframes acceptability as a matter of communicative relevance, not rule checking.
Read the article: doi.org/10.25189/267...
Why do humans have linguistic intuition? And why should you care?
A short thread about my new paper in @cadlin.bsky.social
This work has the most original insight I've ever had, a genuinely new idea about the nature of language
cadernos.abralin.org/index.php/ca...
1/20
A short thread about my new paper in @cadlin.bsky.social
This work has the most original insight I've ever had, a genuinely new idea about the nature of language
cadernos.abralin.org/index.php/ca...
1/20
Why Do Humans Have Linguistic Intuition?
| Cadernos de Linguística
cadernos.abralin.org
December 15, 2025 at 4:14 PM
Why do humans have linguistic intuition? And why should you care?
A short thread about my new paper in @cadlin.bsky.social
This work has the most original insight I've ever had, a genuinely new idea about the nature of language
cadernos.abralin.org/index.php/ca...
1/20
A short thread about my new paper in @cadlin.bsky.social
This work has the most original insight I've ever had, a genuinely new idea about the nature of language
cadernos.abralin.org/index.php/ca...
1/20
Reposted by Thom Scott-Phillips
Like the Penrose triangle, some sentences seem possible at first glance but collapse when we try to interpret them. Thom Scott Phillips shows that linguistic intuition reacts to communicative failure, not to grammar. doi.org/10.25189/267... #langsky #linguistics
December 13, 2025 at 6:51 PM
Like the Penrose triangle, some sentences seem possible at first glance but collapse when we try to interpret them. Thom Scott Phillips shows that linguistic intuition reacts to communicative failure, not to grammar. doi.org/10.25189/267... #langsky #linguistics
Reposted by Thom Scott-Phillips
Judgements of acceptability are often treated as evidence about grammar. This paper argues they are better understood as evidence about how humans interpret signals as communication, linking construction based models to relevance driven cognition. doi.org/10.25189/267... #langsky #linguistics
December 14, 2025 at 5:14 PM
Judgements of acceptability are often treated as evidence about grammar. This paper argues they are better understood as evidence about how humans interpret signals as communication, linking construction based models to relevance driven cognition. doi.org/10.25189/267... #langsky #linguistics
Reposted by Thom Scott-Phillips
I don’t understand why the conversation about demography isn’t more connected to cost of living
Once upon a time a child was a net economic benefit. People had many births. Now children are a net economic cost
It’s not romantic to put it in these terms, but it is relevant and true
Once upon a time a child was a net economic benefit. People had many births. Now children are a net economic cost
It’s not romantic to put it in these terms, but it is relevant and true
December 13, 2025 at 9:24 AM
I don’t understand why the conversation about demography isn’t more connected to cost of living
Once upon a time a child was a net economic benefit. People had many births. Now children are a net economic cost
It’s not romantic to put it in these terms, but it is relevant and true
Once upon a time a child was a net economic benefit. People had many births. Now children are a net economic cost
It’s not romantic to put it in these terms, but it is relevant and true
Reposted by Thom Scott-Phillips
No question, this is the most original paper I have ever written
It says that something that seems plain and obvious - humans have an intuitive sense of what is and is not grammatical - and describes how this apparent common sense is actually misleading
Thread coming soon!
It says that something that seems plain and obvious - humans have an intuitive sense of what is and is not grammatical - and describes how this apparent common sense is actually misleading
Thread coming soon!
Why does “The rat the cat the dog chased killed ate the malt” feel wrong even though it is grammatical? Thom Scott Phillips links gut judgements to communicative usefulness, not abstract rules
doi.org/10.25189/267...
#langsky #linguistics
doi.org/10.25189/267...
#langsky #linguistics
December 12, 2025 at 1:27 PM
No question, this is the most original paper I have ever written
It says that something that seems plain and obvious - humans have an intuitive sense of what is and is not grammatical - and describes how this apparent common sense is actually misleading
Thread coming soon!
It says that something that seems plain and obvious - humans have an intuitive sense of what is and is not grammatical - and describes how this apparent common sense is actually misleading
Thread coming soon!
No question, this is the most original paper I have ever written
It says that something that seems plain and obvious - humans have an intuitive sense of what is and is not grammatical - and describes how this apparent common sense is actually misleading
Thread coming soon!
It says that something that seems plain and obvious - humans have an intuitive sense of what is and is not grammatical - and describes how this apparent common sense is actually misleading
Thread coming soon!
Why does “The rat the cat the dog chased killed ate the malt” feel wrong even though it is grammatical? Thom Scott Phillips links gut judgements to communicative usefulness, not abstract rules
doi.org/10.25189/267...
#langsky #linguistics
doi.org/10.25189/267...
#langsky #linguistics
December 12, 2025 at 1:27 PM
No question, this is the most original paper I have ever written
It says that something that seems plain and obvious - humans have an intuitive sense of what is and is not grammatical - and describes how this apparent common sense is actually misleading
Thread coming soon!
It says that something that seems plain and obvious - humans have an intuitive sense of what is and is not grammatical - and describes how this apparent common sense is actually misleading
Thread coming soon!
Great episode.
Today on It Was What It Was, we talk to the great David Goldblatt about football and the state of the world.
podfollow.com/1745066482
podfollow.com/1745066482
It Was What It Was
Welcome to The Overlap's football history podcast, It Was What It Was.Each week Jonathan Wilson and Rob Draper will be talking about the key episodes in football history that have shaped the footballi...
podfollow.com
December 10, 2025 at 1:49 PM
Great episode.
Well, that’s more left liberal votes down the drain. I’m defo not voting Labour next time unless this abhorrent strategy is abandoned
Probably Lib Dem instead, but we’ll see
Probably Lib Dem instead, but we’ll see
December 7, 2025 at 9:41 AM
Well, that’s more left liberal votes down the drain. I’m defo not voting Labour next time unless this abhorrent strategy is abandoned
Probably Lib Dem instead, but we’ll see
Probably Lib Dem instead, but we’ll see
Reposted by Thom Scott-Phillips
There's a straight line from the EU's failure to invoke Art 7 over Orban's democratic backsliding in the early 2010s and the far-right crisis across Europe today.
Many have correctly attributed that failure to weakness. I'd argue it was also due to arrogance.
Many have correctly attributed that failure to weakness. I'd argue it was also due to arrogance.
December 6, 2025 at 1:20 PM
There's a straight line from the EU's failure to invoke Art 7 over Orban's democratic backsliding in the early 2010s and the far-right crisis across Europe today.
Many have correctly attributed that failure to weakness. I'd argue it was also due to arrogance.
Many have correctly attributed that failure to weakness. I'd argue it was also due to arrogance.