[andreasvc]

Just because we memorize a whole lot (which I agree with) does not mean that language is likely to be "pre-programmed" in the way that SHRDLU follows explicit, exhaustive rules. Formulating such rules requires planning because they are brittle, and this does not seem compatible with the way language acquisition happens.

Also, after accepting the premise that humans exploit an enormous store of data in language use, there still remain very difficult questions about what kind of representations we have available, and how powerful the search and recombination mechanisms are.

Memory-based language processing exists for some time now, and while it is useful, it is certainly not the final answer to "the central problem in NLP" (whatever you define that to be, I'd suggest ambiguity resolution).