SynTalk

Is 29 absolutely prime? Are the 26 letters of the English alphabet arbitrary? Can you learn a word in isolation? How are children able to learn languages without being taught? Why are there patterns at all, & which are more likely? Do objects with more symmetries occur more often? Can patterns be understood via distributions? (How) are constellations in the sky invariant? Are relations more fundamental than entities? Are prime numbers randomly distributed? Is transformation possible only in invariant systems? Which patterns are transitory? How is the multiplicative (rotation?) operation different from the additive (translation)? Do we know which computer program is most likely to produce a certain binary string? Are all languages equally complex? Do numbers (or, numerals) emerge from a language? Why is decimal number system efficient? How are vowels and consonants distributed? Can human language be 'random'? Can there be patterns of change too? Is there a likely master program creating the Universe around us? How do we see beauty in (grammatically incorrect) poetry? Are nuances (really) rules? SynTalk thinks about these & more questions using concepts from mathematics (Prof. Krishnaswami Alladi, University of Florida, Gainesville), computer science (Dr. Manoj Gopalkrishnan, IIT Bombay, Mumbai), & linguistics (Dr. Avinash Pandey, University of Mumbai, Mumbai). Listen in....