EAN: 9780262548465

LANGUAGE VS REALITY - N J ENFIELD TASCHENBUCH

A fascinating examination of how we are both played by language and made by language: the
science underlying the bugs and features of humankind’s greatest invention. Language is said to
be humankind’s greatest accomplishment. But what is language actually good for? It performs
poorly at representing reality. It is a constant source of distraction  misdirection  and
overshadowing. In fact  N. J. Enfield notes  language is far better at persuasion than it is at
objectively capturing the facts of experience. Language cannot create or change physical
reality  but it can do the next best thing: reframe and invert our view of the world. In
Language vs. Reality  Enfield explains why language is bad for scientists (who are bound by
reality) but good for lawyers (who want to win their cases)  why it can be dangerous when it
falls into the wrong hands  and why it deserves our deepest respect. Enfield offers a lively
exploration of the science underlying the bugs and features of language. He examines the
tenuous relationship between language and reality  details the array of effects language has on
our memory  attention  and reasoning  and describes how these varied effects power narratives
and storytelling as well as political spin and conspiracy theories. Why should we care what
language is good for? Enfield  who has spent twenty years at the cutting edge of language
research  argues that understanding how language works is crucial to tackling our most pressing
challenges  including human cognitive bias  media spin  the post-truth” problem  persuasion 
the role of words in our thinking  and much more.

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