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The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window into Human Nature

Steven Pinker

Hardcover | Pages: 499 pages

Rating: 3.9 | 9593 Users | 606 Reviews

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Original Title:	The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window into Human Nature
ISBN:	0670063274 (ISBN13: 9780670063277)
Edition Language:	English

Interpretation Supposing Books The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window into Human Nature

New York Times bestselling author Steven Pinker possesses that rare combination of scientific aptitude and verbal eloquence that enables him to provide lucid explanations of deep and powerful ideas. His previous books, including the Pulitzer Prize finalist The Blank Slate, have catapulted him into the limelight as one of today's most important and popular science writers.

Now, in The Stuff of Thought, Pinker marries two of the subjects he knows best: language and human nature. The result is a fascinating look at how our words explain our nature. What does swearing reveal about our emotions? Why does innuendo disclose something about relationships? Pinker reveals how our use of prepositions and tenses taps into peculiarly human concepts of space and time, and how our nouns and verbs speak to our notions of matter. Even the names we give our babies have important things to say about our relations to our children and to society.

With his signature wit and style, Pinker takes on scientific questions like whether language affects thought, as well as forays into everyday life: why is bulk e-mail called spam and how do romantic comedies get such mileage out of the ambiguities of dating? The Stuff of Thought is a brilliantly crafted and highly readable work that will appeal to fans of readers of everything from The Selfish Gene and Blink to Eats, Shoots & Leaves.

Be Specific About About Books The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window into Human Nature

Title	:	The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window into Human Nature
Author	:	Steven Pinker
Book Format	:	Hardcover
Book Edition	:	Anniversary Edition
Pages	:	Pages: 499 pages
Published	:	2007 by Viking Penguin
Categories	:	Nonfiction. Science. Psychology. Humanities. Linguistics. Language. Philosophy

Rating About Books The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window into Human Nature

Ratings: 3.9 From 9593 Users | 606 Reviews

Write-Up About Books The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window into Human Nature

This is a fast read book. Though I don't like Pinker's allegiance to Chomsky, I think he's great for summing up the bunches of different theories and even better at describing the problems in linguistics that people are trying to understand--excellent examples! And he has an entertaining narrative voice. My only beef was that after he spent time talking about fallacious arguments and the people who use them, he tended to attack "radical" or "extreme" versions of theories, thereby leading the

When I finished this book I was disappointed. I had heard so much about Steven Pinker (this is the first book of his Ive read). I felt like I had learned very little about human nature. But as I reflected on it over the next few days, my opinion radically changed. I kept bumping into things that were illuminated by the insights in this book. For example, I read an article about how robots are being programmed to follow some of the basic modes of human thought so they interface with humans

I've seen Steven Pinker cited in all kinds of places, and understood hes somewhat of an authority on psychology, cognition, and other brain-related areas. So when I started "The Stuff of Thought," I anticipated getting real philosophical real quick. Instead, the entire book is not so much about thought, but about language, and what it reveals about the thoughts that produce it. So here, Pinker is much more of a lexicographer than a psychologist, although the entire subtext is about trying to

I've read a number of Pinker's books.I very much enjoyed The Language Instinct and quite enjoyed How the Mind Works.I read Words and Rules when living in Thailand and learning Thai. I had real problems mapping what he had to say from English to Thai. What he had to say about English and its implication for how the Mind/Language engine work simply did not seem to be true.The Stuff of Thought seems much more solid though and I am finding it quite fascinating.Pinker keeps saying "for English

I am always hesitant to completely pan a book that is clearly written by someone vastly more intelligent than I, but in this case I would have to say that this book definitely did not work for me.The root of my problem with this book is that the claims and synopsis printed on the cover seem to bear little relation to the actual material contained within. We are led to believe that this is a book solidly within the "popular science" category and that it will deal primarily with the concept of how

Great expose of how the mind can be exposed through the semantics and structure of language. I was bogged down my the technical aspects of verbs and grammar towards the beginning of the book but the second half really hit its stride as Pinker explains metaphors, the need for taboos, expletives and indirect language. A worthwile read for those wishing to learn more about humanity and the illogical quirks that make us interesting. Most importantly, the purpose of education is revealed. Not to

This book presented some interesting ideas on how language is shaped by the way we think, and how it enables us to think in new ways, but ultimately i found it to be too academic, like attending a long lecture by a Harvard professor, which the author is. But others may have more patience with it, especially if they don't read it while recovering from a head cold. My favorite sections talked about how new words and metaphors arise and how names come into and out of fashion, as well as how we