Status
Available
Call number
Collection
Publication
Viking Adult (2007), Edition: 1, Hardcover, 512 pages
Description
Psychologist Pinker explains how the mind works in a completely new way--by examining how we use words. Every time we swear, we reveal something about human emotions. When we use an innuendo to convey a bribe, threat, or sexual come-on (rather than just blurting it out), we disclose something about human relationships. Our use of prepositions and tenses tap into peculiarly human concepts of space and time, and our nouns and verbs tap into mental models of matter and causation. Even the names we give our babies, as they change from decade to decade, have important things to day about our relations to our children and to society. Pinker takes on both scientific questions--such as whether language affects thought, and which of our concepts are innate--and questions from the headlines and everyday life.--From publisher description.… (more)
Media reviews
Linguistic determinism is just one of the foes Pinker takes on. He engages with a number of rival theories of language. Sometimes he cuts a few argumentative corners in the interests of mounting a persuasive case. Still, it is not hard to forgive him. He may be partisan, but he is never boring. And
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he does know a lot about words. Show Less
User reviews
LibraryThing member cabanyalblue
Steven Pinker really is an amazing writer: amazing for his ability to attract crank reviews for his books.
Let’s take KromesTomes’s review as our example: one star, with the main (or rather the only) criticism being that Pinker is a ‘terribly “loose” writer’.
Now, for me, this is
Most people have a stereotype of academic writing in their heads: they think it is dense and dull. Like many stereotypes, it has some truth to it – many academic papers are impenetrable even to specialists in the same field. Academic writing on language, strangely enough, suffers just as much as any other field. Steven Pinker’s writing definitely does not fall into this category – he tries to engage with the reader, to stir up and maintain interest. This is definitely a good idea, as linguistics can be a little dry – try Steven Ullmann’s Semantics: An Introduction to the Science of Meaning as bedtime reading.
So, Pinker uses “actually” in a way which is not recorded in Webster’s. Well, I have news (I’m whispering): sometimes people use words in ways which are different to those described in the dictionary. Sometimes they even use words which aren’t even in the dictionary! Imagine that! Actually (can I say that?), this use is in my dictionary (the Oxford): “used to emphasize that something someone has said or done is surprising”. Yet, this is beside the point, which is that it is not at all difficult to know exactly what Pinker meant when he wrote that sentence, just as I know what is meant by a “loose” writer. I’m sure no native speaker of English requires a dictionary to understand it.
Google doesn’t sell noun phrases? Well, it sells to companies wishing to advertise on their search engine the right to have their ads display when certain words, usually noun phrases, are entered into the search box by a user. As I have worked on Microsoft’s attempt to compete with Google in this arena, I know that it is common within the industry to speak of “buying and selling keywords”, rather than use a two or three dozen word sentence as I’ve just done. Not only does it save a lot of time in meetings, but this linguistic phenomenon also has a name: synecdoche. I’m sure that one’s in Webster’s.
One could pick holes in the English used in the review: some people would object to the comma placed inside the inverted commas in “selling noun phrases,” as this implies that it is part of the quote, or to the use of “but” at the start of a sentence. You might say this is pedantry – I would agree and I apologise – but picking holes in perfectly clear and understandable language (or “how people use language in the real world”) is not restricted to this or the below review. Indeed, Pinker devoted a whole chapter of The Language Instinct to linguistic prescriptivism (Chapter 12 – The Language Mavens).
Don’t get me started on the count nouns and mass nouns thing, as I wouldn’t want to keep you here for another ten minutes, although it’s, erm, actually really interesting.
Have a read – you’ll enjoy it, even if you don’t agree with it. No dictionary needed.
Let’s take KromesTomes’s review as our example: one star, with the main (or rather the only) criticism being that Pinker is a ‘terribly “loose” writer’.
Now, for me, this is
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strange. It is easy to disagree with some of Pinker’s ideas, as he takes a contentious stand in some of the most fundamental debates in philosophy, psychology and linguistics. His writing style is not normally so controversial – for a writer who likes to tackle the big issues, his prose is unusually lucid. Most people have a stereotype of academic writing in their heads: they think it is dense and dull. Like many stereotypes, it has some truth to it – many academic papers are impenetrable even to specialists in the same field. Academic writing on language, strangely enough, suffers just as much as any other field. Steven Pinker’s writing definitely does not fall into this category – he tries to engage with the reader, to stir up and maintain interest. This is definitely a good idea, as linguistics can be a little dry – try Steven Ullmann’s Semantics: An Introduction to the Science of Meaning as bedtime reading.
So, Pinker uses “actually” in a way which is not recorded in Webster’s. Well, I have news (I’m whispering): sometimes people use words in ways which are different to those described in the dictionary. Sometimes they even use words which aren’t even in the dictionary! Imagine that! Actually (can I say that?), this use is in my dictionary (the Oxford): “used to emphasize that something someone has said or done is surprising”. Yet, this is beside the point, which is that it is not at all difficult to know exactly what Pinker meant when he wrote that sentence, just as I know what is meant by a “loose” writer. I’m sure no native speaker of English requires a dictionary to understand it.
Google doesn’t sell noun phrases? Well, it sells to companies wishing to advertise on their search engine the right to have their ads display when certain words, usually noun phrases, are entered into the search box by a user. As I have worked on Microsoft’s attempt to compete with Google in this arena, I know that it is common within the industry to speak of “buying and selling keywords”, rather than use a two or three dozen word sentence as I’ve just done. Not only does it save a lot of time in meetings, but this linguistic phenomenon also has a name: synecdoche. I’m sure that one’s in Webster’s.
One could pick holes in the English used in the review: some people would object to the comma placed inside the inverted commas in “selling noun phrases,” as this implies that it is part of the quote, or to the use of “but” at the start of a sentence. You might say this is pedantry – I would agree and I apologise – but picking holes in perfectly clear and understandable language (or “how people use language in the real world”) is not restricted to this or the below review. Indeed, Pinker devoted a whole chapter of The Language Instinct to linguistic prescriptivism (Chapter 12 – The Language Mavens).
Don’t get me started on the count nouns and mass nouns thing, as I wouldn’t want to keep you here for another ten minutes, although it’s, erm, actually really interesting.
Have a read – you’ll enjoy it, even if you don’t agree with it. No dictionary needed.
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LibraryThing member petterw
This is a truly fascinating book, really putting in perspective for me how language is a window into human nature. It is packed with facts, stories, examples and pure knowledge. There is just a bit too much of it, and some of it is too scholarly for my taste. Pinker uses too much space to explain
However, some of the chapters are true gems, lifechanging I would say...
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theories he dosn't support, and the reader is left wondering why. The language itself, ironically, is at times too complicated. However, some of the chapters are true gems, lifechanging I would say...
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LibraryThing member mbmackay
Steven Pinker is such a frustrating writer. His books are crammed with original and important ideas that impress, but which are presented in such a sea of words that the content gets lost. I find myself, at the end of an absorbing chapter, not able to bring to mind the key concepts just presented.
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Now, if Pinker wrote more like Jared Diamond, what a joy it would be. This book is more professional and better organised than Blank Slate, but is still a near miss. What a shame. Read July 2010. Show Less
LibraryThing member skent
An amazing look at our language, with much insight into what linguistics & semantics are all about. Pinker lets the novice become privy to what experts / academics are looking into. Witty, full of neat examples. Chapters on names, taboo words, metaphor etc.
LibraryThing member Benthamite
Innate ideas about space, time and causality are woven into our language, so a close look at our speech can give us insight into who we are.
LibraryThing member jcopenha
This book has a larger focus on linguistics than The Blank Slate. I didn't enjoy this as much, mostly because I felt out of my depth in a lot of it. A couple of the chapters had some interesting tidbits, but overall I thought it was only so-so.
LibraryThing member normaleistiko
Wow! What a great writer on this subject. This linguistics professor at Harvard has written many books on linguistics. This one asks the question, does language shape our brain. The answer seems to be that our brain structure shapes our thoughts and language and our individual culture shapes the
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particulars of the language. Show Less
LibraryThing member Niecierpek
A continuation of his ideas from Blank Slate and Language Instinct. Pinker argues that the way we think shapes the way we express ourselves through language. We are all born with a basic framework for time, substance (that includes number sense), space and causation which are innate in our brain
Pinker makes interesting points about metaphors, obscenities and language games people play. Metaphors are quite ubiquitous in our communication as an expression of the spatial and causal way we think; we basically speak in them (e.g. Let's move the meeting to Friday.). Interestingly enough, we cannot completely control our reaction to swear words and profanities because we react to them (and use them alike) with the underlying, older, automatic and instinctive parts of the brain.
As usual, I enjoyed Pinker's super logical way of thinking and organizing information.
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and which, in turn, give us the basic framework of how we think. Then, how we think dictates how we put ideas into words, with basic notions common to all humans and specific cultures filling in the details with new concepts and words. Pinker makes interesting points about metaphors, obscenities and language games people play. Metaphors are quite ubiquitous in our communication as an expression of the spatial and causal way we think; we basically speak in them (e.g. Let's move the meeting to Friday.). Interestingly enough, we cannot completely control our reaction to swear words and profanities because we react to them (and use them alike) with the underlying, older, automatic and instinctive parts of the brain.
As usual, I enjoyed Pinker's super logical way of thinking and organizing information.
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LibraryThing member readermom
This was really interesting. The author is a professor of psychology at Harvard. He has written a number of other books about language and how it works. This one was about how language reflects how our brains work.
I felt like I really learned a lot about the ordering of language. The way he groups
I don't think I'm going to go into how cause and effect seems to be mirrored in language, and not just English, but many others. Mostly because I would have to read the book again in order to properly summarize it. So if you are interested, look this one up in your own library.
There was one point I really liked. He has a chapter discussing swearing; why, how, common themes among all languages. One point he made that I had wondered about was why swearing is so forceful and unpleasant. He said that when a person swears, he forces anyone in hearing range to think about something disgusting or extremely unpleasant. It is a means of social aggression, which is why young men, in the "swagger" phase, are notorious for using it. He also said something which I have thought for a long time, but he said it so nicely:
Language has often been called a weapon, and people should be mindful about
where to aim it and when to fire. The common denominator of taboo words is
the act of forcing a disagreeable thought on someone, and it's worth considering
how often one really wants one's audience to be reminded of excrement, urine,
and exploitative sex. Even in its mildest form, intended only to keep the
listener's attention, the lazy use of profanity can feel like a series of jabs
in the ribs. They are annoying to the listener, and a confession by the
speaker that he can think of no other way to make his words worth attending
to. It's all the more damning for writers, who have the luxury of choosing
their words off-line from the half-million-word phantasmagoria of the English
lexicon.
I felt like I really learned a lot about the ordering of language. The way he groups
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categories of nouns, verbs, etc. according to how they are used and how they can be formed into sentences makes much more sense than the traditional ways of organizing language that you find in a prescriptive grammar, or that we all learned in school. In fact, one of my lowest grades was in my required English grammar class at BYU.I don't think I'm going to go into how cause and effect seems to be mirrored in language, and not just English, but many others. Mostly because I would have to read the book again in order to properly summarize it. So if you are interested, look this one up in your own library.
There was one point I really liked. He has a chapter discussing swearing; why, how, common themes among all languages. One point he made that I had wondered about was why swearing is so forceful and unpleasant. He said that when a person swears, he forces anyone in hearing range to think about something disgusting or extremely unpleasant. It is a means of social aggression, which is why young men, in the "swagger" phase, are notorious for using it. He also said something which I have thought for a long time, but he said it so nicely:
Language has often been called a weapon, and people should be mindful about
where to aim it and when to fire. The common denominator of taboo words is
the act of forcing a disagreeable thought on someone, and it's worth considering
how often one really wants one's audience to be reminded of excrement, urine,
and exploitative sex. Even in its mildest form, intended only to keep the
listener's attention, the lazy use of profanity can feel like a series of jabs
in the ribs. They are annoying to the listener, and a confession by the
speaker that he can think of no other way to make his words worth attending
to. It's all the more damning for writers, who have the luxury of choosing
their words off-line from the half-million-word phantasmagoria of the English
lexicon.
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LibraryThing member fpagan
Conceptual semantics: "word senses are mentally represented as expressions in a richer and more abstract language of thought" (p 150). Lots of good, long chapters on the semantics, pragmatics, and cultural correlations of natural language.
LibraryThing member WinterFox
The first linguistics book I ever read was the Language Instinct, and I've been a fan of Pinker's since then, so I was pretty excited to get another one of his books as it came out. He bills this one as a view through semantics and pragmatics to human nature, and definitely does his best to make a
Pinker looks at a variety of phenomena, such as the digital nature of time and space in human thought, the availability of certain microclasses to participate in alternations, the nature and situations of profanity in language, and the use of implicatures to save face, and says that these allow deep insights into what's going on in people's minds. I don't really dispute this, and the arguments are cogent and well presented, so it's enjoyable to go through. I have to say that a lot of it didn't come as a surprise, but the stuff that was more psychological was new, and it's synthesized well.
I don't think that this is an earth-shaking book, but it's a good and interesting look at the topic, and it should be easy to understand for the layman, so if you want to get someone to have an idea of what's going on in semantics and pragmatics, this isn't a bad way to go. I'm already lending it out, so it's definitely at that level. I look forward to reading more of his work in the future.
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case for it. It's a pretty interesting walk, and not really heavy reading.Pinker looks at a variety of phenomena, such as the digital nature of time and space in human thought, the availability of certain microclasses to participate in alternations, the nature and situations of profanity in language, and the use of implicatures to save face, and says that these allow deep insights into what's going on in people's minds. I don't really dispute this, and the arguments are cogent and well presented, so it's enjoyable to go through. I have to say that a lot of it didn't come as a surprise, but the stuff that was more psychological was new, and it's synthesized well.
I don't think that this is an earth-shaking book, but it's a good and interesting look at the topic, and it should be easy to understand for the layman, so if you want to get someone to have an idea of what's going on in semantics and pragmatics, this isn't a bad way to go. I'm already lending it out, so it's definitely at that level. I look forward to reading more of his work in the future.
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LibraryThing member pierthinker
I like books that are a challenge to read and understand. I like being driven to think deeply about things that I take for granted. I like understanding how the universe works.
This is a crazy deep and difficult book. Massively rewarding, I struggled mightily to follow the arguments, understand the
Pinker is a great mind who puts forward amazing arguments to explain how human minds work, using language as the key. Every page of this book has me gasping in wonder and realisation.
Every page in this book has me floundering in arguments just out of my mental reach and uses words I never heard of (‘If that is what he meant, why not say so...?’).
This is an absolutely fascinating book from a popular author who wants to tell us how wonderful the human mind is and how language is the ultimate expression of that wonder. In doing so he made my brain hurt, but in a good way.
This is a crazy deep and difficult book. Massively rewarding, I struggled mightily to follow the arguments, understand the
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examples and look up lots of words in a dictionary.Pinker is a great mind who puts forward amazing arguments to explain how human minds work, using language as the key. Every page of this book has me gasping in wonder and realisation.
Every page in this book has me floundering in arguments just out of my mental reach and uses words I never heard of (‘If that is what he meant, why not say so...?’).
This is an absolutely fascinating book from a popular author who wants to tell us how wonderful the human mind is and how language is the ultimate expression of that wonder. In doing so he made my brain hurt, but in a good way.
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LibraryThing member Darcia
This is a difficult book to stick a rating on. Its content will no doubt appeal to a niche audience. The first half is a bit like reading the text for a college lecture. Pinker explores verbs and the way we use them, from tenses to the reasons for our various word choices in conversation. I found
The second half of this book is a much quicker, easier read. Pinker builds off the information in the first half, exploring our use of metaphors in speech and in thought, how names arise, why we find some words more offensive than others, and why people rarely say what they really mean.
If you're looking for a kind of pop culture, light read on language and thought, this probably isn't the one. If you love language and you're also interested in how the mind works, Steven Pinker will take you on a fascinating exploration.
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the information interesting but, at times, weighty and definitely not 'pleasure reading'. The second half of this book is a much quicker, easier read. Pinker builds off the information in the first half, exploring our use of metaphors in speech and in thought, how names arise, why we find some words more offensive than others, and why people rarely say what they really mean.
If you're looking for a kind of pop culture, light read on language and thought, this probably isn't the one. If you love language and you're also interested in how the mind works, Steven Pinker will take you on a fascinating exploration.
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LibraryThing member JenneB
My favorite chapter was "Games People Play" which is all about how people save face by asking for things in indirect ways.
"If you know that I've asked you for sex and have been turned down, and I know that I've asked you for sex and been turned down, we can pretend that it never happened and
Go ahead, read that again. It really does make sense!
"If you know that I've asked you for sex and have been turned down, and I know that I've asked you for sex and been turned down, we can pretend that it never happened and
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continue to be (or at least pretend to be) friends. But if I know that you know, and you know that I know that you know, and so on, then the charade can no longer be maintained."Go ahead, read that again. It really does make sense!
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LibraryThing member kshroyer
This book is definitely not for someone with only a passing interest in linguistics. The first few chapter were slow reading for me but had a lot of good background information about the different theories of language acquisition. My favorite chapters were 5-8 about metaphor, naming, swearing and
I found this book really fascinating and funny. Pinker made some of the more difficult to grasp concepts as accessible as possible and made me laugh in the process.
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the "games people play" -- why do we speak in veiled language instead of being more direct? I found this book really fascinating and funny. Pinker made some of the more difficult to grasp concepts as accessible as possible and made me laugh in the process.
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LibraryThing member HadriantheBlind
A bit tough, but still interesting look at the relation between language and the mind as well as language's role in society. Covers a wide field of topics, with some success in pragmatics, and becomes a bit tough over analysis of verb types.
LibraryThing member jimocracy
This book really made me think about thought and about human language. I especially enjoyed the chapter on profanity. Admittedly, some parts of the book were dry for my tastes but in a lot of places, the author made some very good analyses and seemed to show some real insight.
LibraryThing member joshuabliesath
Not nearly as good as the Blank Slate or How the Mind Works. If you are very interested in linguistics and what it reveals about how we think, then have a try at this one. I'm about half way through and some chapters are slow, but the content is very deep and original.
Subjects
Language
Original publication date
2007
Physical description
512 p.; 9.13 inches
ISBN
0670063274 / 9780670063277