The Stuff of Thought
Language as a Window into Human Nature
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Average rating3.6
The Pulitzer Prize finalist author of The Blank Slate presents an accessible study of the relationship between language and human nature, explaining how everything from swearing and innuendo to prepositions and baby names reveal facts about key human concepts, emotions, and relationships.
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4 primary books#4 in Language and Human Nature Tetralogy
Language and Human Nature Tetralogy is a 4-book series with 4 released primary works first released in 1994 with contributions by Steven Pinker and Au Steven Pinker.
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With a background in linguistics, I find this sort of thing very interesting. I like the stories and examples of language that he used, although I think it was a little to English-centric.
I like neuroscience, linguistics, and Steven Pinker, but I have apparently reached my limit. This is the dullest book I have ever read on my own time. I think the exact moment my brain melted forever was when Pinker spent several paragraphs explaining that actually, chicken can mean an animal or a food, because depending on the context, you could be talking about the bird known as a chicken OR a food in which you eat that is comprised of that bird and -
SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP
Anyways I DNF'd
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