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)

A step ahead

I'm a translator and lover of all things linguistics. I find that this book brings together the contents of Pinker's Language Instinct and How the Mind Works very well and makes rather complex knowledge more accessible to the lay person. This audio book was so interesting and definitely a step ahead of my understanding, so it encourages me to buy the book after all, to take my time to ponder his theories and conclusions. Thank you!

thoughtreview

I found this audiobook very well done.

fascinating topic, very precise, lucid writing

Lots of fascinating insight about the inner workings of the mind and deeper underlying logic in language. One interesting thing Pinker explains is the non obvious underlying logic that explains some grammatical irregularities; many irregularities obey consistent rules when you look one or two layers deeper into the logical functional categories of words or grammatical topologies. One of the great features of Pinker's writing is his precision and clarity in explaining complex ideas. You may have to listen back to some sentences a couple of times to parse all the info in it, but you'll find that his explanations are quite comprehensive, precise and concise. No sloppy metaphors or hand waving explanations here, just very satisfying "precision english."

Hard Read But Worth the Effort

I had a hard time working my way through this one. As is typical of Pinker, he researched the materials thoroughly, and then he blended ideas between which I would never have seen the connections. I will need to get the hard copy and read this book again when I have more time to concentrate on the subtle aspects of grammar and neurology. Had I read this book first rather than listening to it, I would still need to do so. The material is that intense.

One specific idea that I took away from this book is obvious in retrospect, but I never really thought about it before: language as metaphor. For years, I have encouraged my students to learn the roots of technical terminology. Doing so makes it easier. However, it had never dawned on me that all these words were themselves metaphors to describe something and that the first person who used these terms used them as metaphors. In the sciences, we often caution against reasoning from analogy, but if language is based on metaphors, wouldn't analogy be a normal starting point?

Pretty good

Loved the content but not announcing a new chapter and having an actual pause is pretty bloody confusing and annoying because it gave the impression of an endless story.

Best book on the human mind I’ve ever found

This man is beyond good in understanding the human mind and language as a manifestation of it

Not an enjoyable read

I found the subject matter very interesting and thought that I would find relevant and relatively easily understandable information on what the topic purports to present. Unfortunately, I found this book very difficult to follow. I felt the writer spoke from his ivery tower of academic literature and never bothered to dissect the subject and explain it to an interested reader. I essentially lost my interest half-way through and didn't finish the book.

i got bored

This book might be interesting to somebody studying linguistics. I tried a few times to come back to it, but my eyes just start glazing over after about 10 mins. Couldn't make it to the second half.

Audiobook does not do the material justice

Very difficult book for an audiobook. Hard to follow. The reader went very fast. There is no time to absorb the ideas-- particularly the examples. You can't easily page back and relisten to key parts. The ideas were not that dense; but they were hard to follow.
I also thought the book was heavier on technical linguistics and less on insights into human nature than I was expecting. At least listening to it during a commute, it came out very disjointed and without a clear theme.
If you are still interested, I'd recommend using old technology and actually reading it-- but only if you are really into linguistics. There are some interesting concepts here but no great insights into human nature.

Dog Shit

lies mixed with truth, Amerinan Government Propaganda, Shit, False, every bit a lie. If you believe this you will believe any fucking thing.