The Stuff of Thought
by Steven Pinker
Penguin, HK$160
Religion, according to Steven Pinker, is the root of swearing in English. But because of the secularisation of western culture, profanity has lost its edge to foul language relying on subjects such as sexuality and excretion. In The Seven Words You Can't Say on Television, Pinker, a Harvard University psychology professor, demonstrates how taboo terms give an insight into that which evokes the strongest emotions. One of nine chapters in The Stuff of Thought, it is probably the one readers will most readily grasp. To his credit though, Pinker tries to cater to a lay audience. In this volume he tackles meaning and underscores how 'there is nothing 'mere' about semantics'. To illustrate his point he writes about the World Trade Centre attacks, which resulted in a dispute about whether it was one 'event' or two. The site's leaseholder, contending it was the latter, argued he should receive US$7 billion in compensation. But the insurers defined it in mental terms, that is, one plot, or US$3.5 billion. Pinker's latest offering is also a continuation of his studies into human nature. This perhaps explains the inclusion in the book's title of 'stuff': a woolly word for all occasions.
