BirthME, Doulas

We have trouble with evolution because we think of adaptation as something that individuals do in their lifetimes, not something a species does over generations. 259. He asserts that language must do two things: The Stuff of Thought [has] the two most important qualities in a good popular science book: it makes the subject accessible, and it makes its readers think. We phrase treaties vaguely because if they were clear, nobody would sign them. Original paper (1918-1919): The Thought: A Logical Inquiry, by Gottlob Frege Mind, New Series, Vol. Key points of the paper: i) Three types of things exist: Ideas (psychological processes like feelings, perceptions, or episodes of thinking), thoughts (propositions that can be true or false), and things (extra-mental objects/processes… You’re supposed to keep your personality out of the way, justifying every topic of interest by some larger theoretical goal. Here is Pinker’s angle: Was it one “event” or two? THERE is a thinking stuff from which all things are made, and which, in its original state, permeates, penetrates, and fills the interspaces of the universe. But in Pinker’s case, you get the feeling that this guy actually would prefer to show you his etchings. Even their common lesson has two sides. There are two ways to look at anything. We confuse differences in group averages with claims of group superiority. Actually, I learned it from two Steven Pinkers. That’s what I learned from reading Steven Pinker.
It starts on the first page. That’s why you can look at the same thing in different ways.Then there’s the clash between ancient and modern science.

Nature isn’t the only external standard by which we can evaluate and revise frames and claims. The linguistic arcana, the academic squabbles, the Tom Lehrer songs, the Lenny Bruce quotations — they’re all part of the tale of one man’s journey to understanding human nature. Pinker weaves this paradox from a … Aristotle thought projectiles continued through space because a force propelled them. The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world. It all makes sense, when you look at it the right way. A thought in this substance produces the thing that is imaged by the thought. The riffs continue: verb taxonomies, the nuances of “politeness theory,” the comparative languages of South American tribes. The medium isn’t just reason; it’s language — and language isn’t the manifestation of one mind; it’s the joint manifestation of millions. Pinker’s duality is of the opposite kind. Considering scientific questions with examples from everyday life, 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. The other side is the modesty of how he built them. That would be dualism. From them, he spins delightful theories about people. Pinker argues that language provides a window into human nature, and that "analyzing language can reveal what people are thinking and feeling." We euphemize bribes as “contributions” to preserve the dignity of lobbyists and legislators. This question makes a $3.5 billion difference to the World Trade Center’s owner and his insurance company, but you’d be hard pressed to think up a more pointy-headed question about the murder of nearly 3,000 people.

289-311. From physical journeys, we build an understanding of relationships. Idealists think it’s all in our heads. In sum, Pinker warns, “the machinery of conceptual semantics makes us permanently vulnerable to fallacies in reasoning.”On the other hand, we are not imprisoned by them. Pinker says it comes from reality but is organized and reorganized by the mind. But as Pinker’s little friends consume the book, it becomes clear that he’s a geek. He catalogs scores of terms for genitals, sex acts and excrement. Pinker says Aristotle was right, not about projectiles but about how we understand them. It's become so common that we don't even notice that it is a philosophical rumination rather than a direct imperative.

If frames overpower rational criticism, Pinker asks, then why do Lakoff and other quasi-relativists write books rationally criticizing frames? We invent subtle sexual overtures to avoid a confrontation if the other guy turns out not to be gay. Aristotle’s bad physics was actually good psychology.How can we be sure the mind works this way? Foul language turns out to be an excellent window not only into human nature but into Pinker’s nature: curious, inventive, fearless, naughty.And Pinker’s nature turns out to be the book’s organizing principle. “The Stuff of Thought” explores the duality of human cognition: the modesty of its construction and the majesty of its constructive power. Pinker rejects Lakoff’s ideas, which have become fashionable among Democratic strategists. In The Stuff of Thought, Pinker presents a fascinating look at how our words explain our nature. “Metaphors are generalizations,” he argues. Variations among verbs reflect our distinctions among physical processes. He thought they eventually fell because Earth was their natural home. On the other hand, you don't want to boss people around lightly. That doesn’t mean we always use language to convey reality. The book became a New York Times best … He’s interested in the stuff of life, but he’s even more interested in how we depict it.There’s plenty of sex and scatology in Pinker’s etchings. Categories intersect like dimensions. The Stuff of Thought, By Steven Pinker Caveman conversations. He pokes fun at Congressional censors for botching the grammar of words they’re trying to ban.
The reason language works is that it reflects the world as we jointly experience it. The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns. 5. In each case, language has fossilized the construction process: “heat flow,” “genetic code,” “natural selection.”Some thinkers worry that this power to frame perceptions can run away with us. In an exclusive preview of his book The Stuff of Thought, Steven Pinker looks at language and how it expresses what goes on in our minds -- and how the words we … It's a bit of a social dilemma.

We have trouble understanding intellectual property because our ideas of possession and theft are based on physical objects.