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The Double Thinker - New York Times book review

Posted: Fri Dec 28, 2007 2:05 am
by Chris OConnor
The Double Thinker

By WILLIAM SALETAN
Published: September 23, 2007
New York Times
Sunday Book Review
There are two ways to look at anything. That's what I learned from reading Steven Pinker. Actually, I learned it from two Steven Pinkers. One is a theorist of human nature, the author of "How the Mind Works" and "The Blank Slate." The other is a word fetishist, the author of "The Language Instinct" and "Words and Rules." One minute, he's explaining the ascent of man; the next, he's fondling irregular verbs the way other people savor stamps or Civil War memorabilia.
Read the full book review here.here.

Posted: Fri Dec 28, 2007 11:41 am
by Loricat
"fondling irregular verbs"

:)
That just makes me happy!

I studied linguistics at university, and I see the world through a veil of language...and I'm terribly geeky about words and such. Pinker's "The Language Instinct" is a book I wish I'd read before taking my degree, then it would have been so much easier -- he summarizes 4 years of linguistics in that book!