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

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

Spotlight customer reviews:
Customer Rating:

Summary: Language - a window to the way our minds work. Good and clear insights from Pinker.
Comment: Once Steven Pinker gets over his difficult first chapter (he's hunting around trying to find first
gear) this book really takes off. Pinker uses the way we structure our language, with all of its
grammatical rules and foibles, as evidence of how our minds work. Thus if we accept that children
don't learn grammar by rote memory, but more through induction and the creation of general rules,
then we can see that the way these rules are framed are a reflection of the way we think. />
Pinker cites hundreds of references, dozens of fascinating experiments, and calls on -
often with great wit and brio - many entertaining examples of our language and what it really says
about us. A whole chapter on "the seven words you can't use on television" shows the almost magical
qualities we attach to words.

For me the most fascinating work in this book focuses on
the way we speak indirectly to each other, often alluding to what we mean to say. Why say: "It would
be awesome if you would pass the ketchup," when we really mean "Pass the ketchup." The answer lies
in our complex social brain: and our desire to get on with others by removing the power implications
of a direct order. Pinker takes his examples much deeper than this.

This is wonderful
reading for people who are either fascinated by the human mind, or fascinated by our living language
- or both. Five stars.

Customer Rating:

Summary: A Window Into Our Ways
Comment: This book grasped my attention with sufficent force to motivate me into reading his previous book
"Words and Rules". If someone had told my 7th grade grammer teacher that some day I would read
these two books, she might have fainted.

Customer Rating:

Summary: Human thoughts are built around core ideas
Comment: Steven Pinker's THE STUFF OF THOUGHT: LANGUAGE AS A WINDOW INTO HUMAN NATURE receives Dean Olsher's
excellent radio speaking background which here shows as an attention to quiet drama and detail as he
reads professor Pinker's exploration of human emotions and language. Human thoughts are built around
core ideas: Pinker examines how these ideas develop from childhood on, how they are applied to the
world, and what happens when they are misapplied.

Customer Rating:

Summary: Mind-Numbing
Comment: It's not fair for me to write a review, I suppose, as I gave up half-way thru the 1st chapter when I
looked ahead to see just how long Pinker was going to belabor the point of how children learn verbs.
So, I'm into chapter two and was forcing myself to persevere.

This author is no
Dawkins or Diamond. His text is stultifying. I don't really know if there's anything worthwhile in
the book or not and am so sorry I spent the money on it.

After reading some other
reviews, it seems the 2nd half may offer something, so I'll skip ahead to see.

This
happened with "How the Mind Works" too by Pinker. His writing style is not readable to me. Who
knows if he has anything worth knowing as he doesn't seem able to convey it in his highly tauted
understanding of the English language.

Customer Rating:

Summary: In depth analysis based upon recognized behavorial standards
Comment: Steven Pinker's analysis in this book helps me understand our human use of words and speech in our
human communications.

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

Showing page 6 of 8
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |