> why do I read your comment left to right one word at a time? I'd say because the probabilistic structure of language is such that it must be processed sequen

> why do I read your comment left to right one word at a time? I'd say because the probabilistic structure of language is such that it must be processed sequentially to be decoded correctly. The interpretation of what comes next depends on what came before. Information-theoretically, this happens to be an efficient and compact way of encoding information in the auditory medium (where input unfolds over time, rather than being presented all at once like in images). Whether processing is "massively parallel" depends on what level of analysis you're assuming. At some level, processing in the brain is obviously massively, since that's simply how the brain's laid out. I don't see how sequential processing bears any implication to whether or not language is or can be learned through statistical pattern matching, but I'd love to hear your angle on this.