[js1138]

Except among the ill-educated, for instance, there is little statistical about the rule of subject-verb agreement as to number and person.

Except that Chomsky predicts that these kinds of rules are embedded in the mind and do not need to be explicitly learned.

[AndyJackson]

I think that his argument is that what has to be learned are the conventions of the particular dialect you are using. I.e. in standard English "we are" vs "we be" (although "we be" has a proper use as the present subjuntive, and given how it is used in those circles that use it, I think may be more correct than most of the pseudosophistates even know.)

I think that Chomsky's real question is, how is it that most people know these things by age 3 without having to have a PhD in linguistics in order to understand it all? It is a very simple question with very profound consequences. But that is often the case with simple questions. Einstein asked a simple question and got the special and general theories of relavitity as a consequence.

[ez]

Except that Chomsky predicts that these kinds of rules are embedded in the mind and do not need to be explicitly learned.

Couldn't "embedded in the mind" be another way to say "inherent in the physical structure of the brain?"