Quote:
Originally Posted by MrPedantic  ...wouldn't it be equally true to say: "Who's the authority?" "Other people, of course!" 
MrP |
That's exactly the point.
There
is more than one authority. Take, for example, rule governed systems such as maths and computer languages. The solution to a problem can be reached in more than one way. Some equations and algorithms are more efficient than others, but that doesn't mean the apparent ineffecient ones are not rule governed or, for that matter, less true or accurate. Where there's a pattern, there's a system (i.e., rules). The way in which speakers apply the rules of their language appears to differ at a deeper, personal, computational level. Who cares who's the authority; as long as the computation is rule governed the authority stands correct.
In biology, a slight "mutation" in a genetic computation and TA-DA! there's a platypus. Deviant, yes, but nonetheless the result of the inner workings of a rule governed system.