Stephen Pinker, author of The Stuff of Thought is a consistently thought-provoking guy. His book, subtitled "Language As a Window into Human Nature," discusses the relationship between what we say and what we think. Are we limited by our language, or is it an infinitely flexible tool for infinitely flexible minds? You can get a glimpse of Pinker's language and thoughts in an article posted recently at The New Republic. It's a longish essay (excerpted from The Stuff of Thought) dealing with swearing. Be warned: Pinker doesn't whitewash it; he uses the real swears.--David E
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