The Stuff of Thought

Language as a Window into Human Nature

By: Steven Pinker

Narrated by: Dean Olsher

Length: 9 hrs and 36 mins

Publisher's summary

New York Times best-selling 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 everything from The Selfish Gene and Blink to Eats, Shoots & Leaves.

©2007 Steven Pinker (P)2007 Penguin Audio, a member of Penguin Group (USA), Inc. and Books on Tape. All rights reserved.

Critic reviews

"Engaging and provocative...filled with humor and fun." (Douglas Hofstadter, Los Angeles Times)

"Pinker is a star, and the world of science is lucky to have him." (Richard Dawkins)

"Curious, inventive, fearless, naughty." (New York Times Book Review)

Brilliant insights into the brain and language

Fascinating account of what we have learned about how the brain and language are intertwined. Pinker has struck just the right balance between examples, research, anecdote, and interpretation. It helped me understand part of the reason I had so much trouble with grammar when I was younger. Basically, the brain is focused on attributes different from what the cut-and-dried grammarians were focused on. His lengthy analysis of the differences between 3 verbs (load, fill, and pour) is a great example. Another great theme in this book is how the ambiguities of language allow people to construe different versions of the same event, and all the problems that entails.

Pinker is a genius, but...

Where does The Stuff of Thought rank among all the audiobooks you???ve listened to so far?

This is a book that requires concentration. Pinker's discussion is highly technical, but very interesting.

Who was your favorite character and why?

It's nonfiction.

What does Dean Olsher bring to the story that you wouldn???t experience if you just read the book?

Clear, articulate voice.

great. very interesting. highly recommended

excellent. highly recommended. great analysis and examples. full of interesting details. very insightful. if you are interested in language you will enjoy this book

A window into your own thought processes

A fascinating and enlightening trek through the use and meaning of words! Pinker starts off using a 3.5 billion-dollar court case to point out how big of a deal it can become when one person's view of a word's connection to reality is different from another's, and then walks the reader through a thorough examination of things that can make the difference between conveying a concept the way you want to, or failing to do so.

His discussion of how some meanings of words are collapsed or expanded depending on the language is one of the most useful things I've come across for helping native Spanish speakers understand the difference between the meanings of "in" and "on" in English, which is predictably difficult since the Spanish word "en" is used for both concepts.

Pinker is truly a brilliant and lucid explainer...

I loved this book! I had enjoyed "The Blank Slate" by Pinker. One of the downsides is that I used to think I was a bit of an intellectual...once you read or hear Pinker, you realize how high the bar of genuine intellect truly goes. The guy is "freakin" brilliant.

Some reviewers complained that the material was too dense for audiobook format. There were a few sections in which I found it helpful to back the story up and re-listen...but the format was fine.

Both my parents were academics and language lovers, so Pinkers obvious erudition and use of occasionally obscure verbiage was enjoyable to me, not off-putting.

The basic premise of the book is that human nature, and brain "hard-wiring" is illuminated by the way we use language.

The only reason this didn't get five stars is that I liked Bill Bryson's "A Brief History of Nearly Everything" even a bit better, and I consequently wanted to rate it even higher.

If you liked "Outliers" and appreciate genuine philisophical depth and orginality, you will like this book. Pinker knows and brings to bear on his thesis about a remarkable number of fields. Just as I felt about "The Blank Slate," my private thought was, "If I can ever be half as articulate and intellectually gifted as this guy, I would be ecstatic."

But be warned...if you are aren't willing to do just a bit of intellectual "heavy lifting" in parts, this book may not be for you. Pinker is not writing for the undergrads and underachievers here...he does not bother to dumb things down.

In summary, I learned about my own character and nature, as well as others, while thinking about ideas elucidated and spawned by this book.

It is a winner.

Rudi Hoffman
Port Orange, FL

Great Book

As a former teacher of English (as a foreign language - TEFL), I found this book excellent. English is my second language and for a long time I have been facinated by the "behavior" of verbs, be in English or my own native language. It will help TEFL teachers explaining why certain words behave in a particular way. I think this ought to be a required reading for all who intend to teach English as a second/foreign language. The reader is also outstanding.

Brilliant, practical, engaging

Steven Pinker blends remarkably astute observations that seem obvious once made, clear summaries of different theories and researches, and persuasive speculations into a great narrative.
I certainly do intend to listen to it again, but that is testimony to its richness of thought, not to any failing of the recording.
I don't believe that reading the hard copy would be as much fun or any more productive.

Fascinating

I've been an audible member for a long time..and I don't think I've ever enjoyed a book this much. The narration is very good, too.

Too much language for me

I was very much looking forward to hearing more from Steven Pinker since having earlier listened to The Better Angels of Our Nature. Thank goodness I had not purchased The Stuff of Thought before having bought The Better Angels. I cannot find fault with either the narration or the writing of the book itself, but, can only say that this is more like a text book or thesis than I would have expected from my previous exposure to Mr. Pinker's work. This, I am afraid, was much too academic for me and though it imparted much about language and our learning and comprehension of the spoken word it simply bored me to no end. The author did not offer the insight and easily understood format which I expected. Still, I have nothing but praise for the oblivious research and knowledge Mr. Pinker brings to his work.

Loved it

Narrator is great, and the content excellent. Steven Pinker never disappoints. You may need a dictionary on hand occasionally though! Literary genius.