factual

Language Is Optimized Only To Be Good Enough

Language is optimized for current communicative purposes, which means it only ever becomes 'good enough' rather than better — for example, saying 'the red one' to identify a car requires no precision about the shade, only enough to contrast it against the alternatives.

factualpending

Speaker

N.J. Enfield

Evidence Quote

it only gets good enough, it doesn't get better than that

Source

203 | N.J. Enfield on Why Language is Good for Lawyers and Not ScientistsSean Carroll's Mindscape
Created: 6/13/2026, 12:18:59 AM

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