Scratchpad + reading list

artist:
the business of being yourself as deliberately as possible

“By giving us a framework for marshaling our thoughts, language does a lot for us,” Professor Gentner said. “Because spatial language gives us symbols for spatial patterns, it helps us carve up the world in specific ways.”

Immersing the face in water produces a protective action in humans similar to that in dolphins, seals, otters and whales. Called the mammalian diving reflex, it quickly lowers the heart rate and then constricts blood vessels in the limbs so that blood is reserved for the heart and the brain.

“THE STUFF OF THOUGHT: Language as a Window into Human Nature,” by Steven Pinker, Viking. The author uses language to examine how the mind works, in perception and thought.

“FOUNDATIONS OF LANGUAGE: Brain, Meaning, Grammar, Evolution,” by Ray Jackendoff, Oxford University Press. Ideas about how the brain stores and processes language.

“BASIC COLOR TERMS: Their Universality and Evolution,” by Brent Berlin and Paul Kay, University of California Press. Originally published in 1969, this was an early investigation of color terms in different languages.

“LANGUAGE, THOUGHT AND REALITY: Selected Writings of Benjamin Lee Whorf,” by Benjamin Lee Whorf (author), John B. Carroll (editor), M.I.T. Press. This work, first published in a different edition in 1956, reflects Whorf’s view that a language affects how one thinks.

“SPACE IN LANGUAGE AND COGNITION: Explorations in Cognitive Diversity,” by Stephen C. Levinson, Cambridge University Press. How the language and conception of space varies among cultures.

“LANGUAGE IN MIND: Advances in the Study of Language and Thought,” by Dedre Gentner and Susan Goldin-Meadow, The M.I.T. Press. A collection of articles on linguistic research.