Language as a window into human nature is a 2007 book by experimental psychologist steven pinker. He conducts research on language and cognition, writes for publications such as the new york times, time, and slate, and is the author of seven books, including the language instinct, how the mind works, words and rules, the blank slate, and most recently, the stuff of thought. The pleasure of pinkers book is in watching the careful skill with which he. What wellesleys reading by wellesley college on apple. Download past episodes or subscribe to future episodes of what wellesleys. Steven pinker on language and thought internet archive.
Pinkers farewell the stuff of thought steven pinker september 2007. Steven pinker is the johnstone family professor of psychology and harvard college professor of psychology at harvard university. There are sexual taboos and hangups in all human cultures, and its not surprising to a biologist because sexuality is the very stuff of evolution, although since the 60s weve had. One of todays most popular science writers and a new york times bestselling author, pinkers previous books include the language instinct and the pulitzer prize finalist the blank slate. He conducts research on language and cognition, writes for publications such as thenew york times, time, and slate, and is the author of six books, including the language instinct, how the mind works, words and rules, the blank slate, the stuff of thought, and the better angels of our nature. Language and the mind revistedthe rest of the world noam chomsky. This new york times bestseller is an exciting and fearless investigation of language bestselling author steven pinker possesses that rare combination of scientific aptitude and verbal eloquence that enables him to provide lucid explanations of deep and. In the book pinker analyzes how our words relate to thoughts and to the world around us and reveals what this tells us about ourselves. He is johnstone family professor in the department of psychology at harvard university, and is known for his advocacy of evolutionary psychology and. If one or more works are by a distinct, homonymous authors, go ahead and split the author. If you are the publisher or author of this book and feel. The stuff of thought, shiao wei tham reads from the stuff of thought. The stuff of thought, by steven pinker the independent.
These blinks touch on everything from our ability to unconsciously detect subtle grammatical patterns to the linguistic rules surrounding politeness. The stuff of thought has the two most important qualities in a good popular science book. Language as a window into human nature by steven pinker. Steven pinker charts the decline of violence from biblical times to the present, and argues that, though it may seem illogical and even obscene, given iraq and darfur, we are living in the most peaceful time in our species existence. Language as a window into human nature steven pinker. Put another way, pinker probes the mystery of human nature by examining how we use words. Steven pinker is currently considered a single author. Like one can choose to obsess over prescriptive rules, but they have no more to do with human language than the criteria for judging cats at a cat show have to do with mammalian biology. The stuff of thought by steven pinker on free audio download. Stephen pinker is the johnstone family professor of psychology at harvard university, where he conducts research on language and cognition.
Steven pinker is one of the worlds most influential thinkers and writers on the human condition. How words relate to thoughts is the object of semantics, which, writes pinker psychologyharvard. This new york times bestseller is an exciting and fearless investigation of language from the author of better angels of our nature and the sense of style and enlightenment now. Welcome to episode 44, where well be talking to steven pinker. Steven pinker is harvard college professor and johnstone family professor of psychology at harvard. In the stuff of thought steven pinker, noted public intellectual and linguist at mit, analyzes how our words relate to thoughts and to the world around us and reveals what this tells us about ourselves. Get 50% off this audiobook at the audiobooksnow online audio book store and download or stream it right to your computer, smartphone or tablet. In his new book, steven pinker answers these puzzles and many more. The stuff of thought 2007 is steven pinker s fifth popular science book, designed to complete two different trilogies that explore language, the mind and human nature. Steven pinker is the johnstone family professor in the epub department of psychology at harvard university. On the surface, these pairs of sentences may seem to have parallel meanings, but.
Steven pinker is harvard college professor and johnstone family professor in the department of psychology at. Review excerpts for the stuff of thought steven pinker. Among his books are the language instinct, how the mind works and the blank slate. The stuff of thought is an exhilarating work of nonfiction. This new york times bestseller is an exciting and fearless investigation of language from the author of better angels of our nature and the sense of style. Episode 44, the steven pinker interview the panpsycast. Language as a window into human nature is a beautiful bookeasy to read yet elucidating on the most important subject of language and thought. Surprising, thoughtprovoking and incredibly enjoyable, there is no other book like it steven pinker will revolutionise the way you think about language.
The stuff of thought 2007 offers an indepth look at language and, more specifically, what it can tell us about human nature and the complexities of the human mind. The stuff of thought with steven pinker all in the mind. One has to study something more tractable, and when fortune smiles, a general law may reveal itself in the process. Language as a window into human nature by steven pinker, published by penguin books. Book about darwin, lincoln and modern life and steven pinker, author of.
He conducts research on language and cognition, writes for publications such as the new york times, time and slate, and is the author of six books. Steven arthur pinker born september 18, 1954 is a canadianamerican cognitive psychologist, linguist, and popular science author. His popular and highly praised books include the better angels of. The words a person uses tell you who that person is. His research is on visual cognition and the psychology of language. The book is accessible, which is why i find it so appealing, but the secrets within it are not really trivial or things i could have gleaned easily from other sources. Until 2003, he taught in the department of brain and cognitive sciences at mit.
So, sure language can provide a window into human nature, just as the output of a computer can tell us something about the software it is. No one has ever gotten a grant to study the human mind. He is johnstone family professor in the department of psychology at harvard university, and is known for his advocacy of evolutionary psychology and the computational theory of mind. October 17, 2007 in his new book, the stuff of thought, psychologist steven pinker sorts through some of the paradoxes of profanity. He analyses what words actually mean and how we use them, and he. For steven pinker, the brilliance of the mind lies in the way it uses just two processes to turn the finite building blocks of our language into infinite meanings.