The Stuff Of Thought : Language As A Window Into Human Nature

Steve Pinker’s book The Stuff Of Thought : Language As A Window Into Human Nature (2007.  ANF 401 PIN) caught my eye with its cover art of line drawings of a whole jumble of things that presumably are co-existing in someone’s head.  I thought to myself, here is someone who understands the mind and its workings.

Pinker, a professor of psychology at Harvard, argues that “a close look at our speech – our jokes, our curses, our legal disputes, the names we give our babies – can give us insight into who we are.”

He goes on to talk about how words are combined in language to add nuances to our interactions in social settings as people put their thoughts and feelings into words. Our daily lives are inextricably bound to language and enables us to inform and persuade those around us. 

This book is a little heavy going but will appeal to those like me who have an interest in what makes us tick. 

Find this book in the Library’s catalogue

Taken with permission from Gloria Novak’s “Good Reads at the Library”