An intriguing look at the brain mechanisms involved in the complexities of human communication.
How we extract meaning from language.
Our ability to use language is unique, suggests Bergen (Cognitive Science/Univ. of California, San Diego). Bird song may rival the tunes we sing in “speed and complexity,” and primates can learn a simple human vocabulary, but human speech is open-ended. We effortlessly extract meaning from verbal descriptions of nonexistent things such as “Martian anthropologists or vegetarian zombies” and discuss abstractions such as the meaning of meaning. The author describes research corroborating the “embodied simulation hypothesis,” the idea that understanding spoken or written language depends on our ability to imaginatively reconstruct mental images from the words we hear or see. In order to understand the meaning behind words, we use the same mental tools that allow us to react to our environment, reconstruct memories, plan future actions or imagine situations. Bergen gives the example of professional athletes who use visualization to hone their skills and compares this to the visualization necessary to understand language. Clever laboratory experiments show how recognition speed varies when seeing a picture of an object such as an egg and hearing a description of its use. Brain scans show the activation of different neural pathways when we hear a noun or verbal description. Similarly, Bergen shows that the use of metaphor and idiom to express abstractions also depends on visualization and the language of embodiment, from descriptive language such as “swallowing pride” and “grasping meaning” to idiomatic expressions like “you see what I mean” or “let's shine some light on the topic.”
An intriguing look at the brain mechanisms involved in the complexities of human communication.Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-465-02829-0
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Basic Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 29, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
A study, Buckley writes, that was 14 years in the making—and it shows. Well-written, vigorous, and aptly titled, this...
A first-rate history of African-Americans in the military.
Journalist Buckley, daughter of singer Lena Horne, comes from a long line of soldiers who took part in the Revolution, the Indian Wars, WWI, and other conflicts throughout American history. As Buckley writes, African-Americans were generally made to feel unwelcome (if useful cannon fodder) in the military between the years of the Revolution and the Korean War, when President Truman formally integrated the armed services. Buckley begins her sweeping narrative with the black fighters of the Revolution, ignored in standard history texts but honored by the likes of Washington and Jefferson in their time for having “knocked the British about lively.” Among the other early, forgotten patriots of whom she writes is Joseph Savary, a hero of the War of 1812 who helped Andrew Jackson win the Battle of New Orleans; having been ordered not to take part in the victory parade, he angrily denounced American racism and logged time in the pirate trade with Jean Lafitte before heading south to join Simon Bolivar's army. Another is William Carney, who fought with the 55th Massachusetts (the sister regiment of the storied and bloodied 54th) and was the first black fighter to be awarded the Medal of Honor. Most of Buckley's narrative, however, is given to events of the 20th century, from WWI to the invasion of Iraq; a key figure in her text is Colin Powell, who rose through the officer corps to assume a key leadership role in the military (and is now the Secretary of State). If there is an overarching theme to Buckley's narrative, it is that military service offered African-Americans a means of improving their lives; “by helping make history,” she writes, “they fought racism” and overcame prejudices in other branches of society.
A study, Buckley writes, that was 14 years in the making—and it shows. Well-written, vigorous, and aptly titled, this deserves the widest possible readership.Pub Date: May 22, 2001
ISBN: 0-375-50279-3
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2001
BOOK REVIEW
A fast-paced tale of teenage hackers and their potentially dangerous mischief in cyberspace. With a deft touch and an occasionally sardonic yet sympathetic voice, Newsday reporters and mystery coauthors Slatalla and Quittner (Mother's Day, 1993, etc.) create a lively narrative. Queens, N.Y., high school valedictorian Paul Stira and buddy Eli Ladopoulos enlist the notorious Phiber Optik (Mark Abene) to help them probe the phone company computer they've penetrated. When Abene gets expelled from the hack gang Legion of Doom (LOD), he and his new friends, along with two other hackers, form Masters of Deception (MOD). They crash The Learning Link, a regional network that rebroadcasts educational TV shows, leaving a message of bravado; they hack into a Harper's forum on hackers, and their bold defense of the hacker ethic (any system is fair game) unnerves their elders. A battle is engaged between LOD and MOD. The Texans at LOD set up a hacker group to police cyberspace; a racial slur from one infuriates the New Yorkers, who harass their rivals. The Texans, however, enlist the Feds, who step in after one MOD starts peddling credit files. Charged with various counts of wire fraud and unauthorized access to computers, the five New Yorkers plead guilty, but several have jobs waiting when they get out of jail. While the authors note that the growing Internet offers even more opportunity for hacking and that the newly established Electronic Frontier Foundation backed off defending MOD (to avoid being seen as a ``hacker defense fund''), they could have done more to place the MOD's work in the context of the history of hacking. Still, they make technical information accessible, showing the mix of computer smarts and sheer gall (like pretending to be a repairman to extract phone company info) it takes to hack. A good read, if a bit facile. (First serial to Wired; $35,000 ad/promo; author tour)
Pub Date: Jan. 1, 1995
ISBN: 0-06-017030-1
Page Count: 256
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 1994
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