Language in Thought and Action: Fifth Edition

Mr. Hayakawa's book expounds on his theory, influenced by the ideas of Alfred Korzybski, that language springs forth as a result of the inherent human tendenancy towards co-operation. He also elaborates on how people are deluded until they understand that words are just symbols used to approximate an experience. An empowering book that will help you filter all those words bombarding your mind.

I realized in the course of inhaling this book, that a basic grounding in semantics is one of the most important tools available to us, because with it, we can size people up and analyze what they say with and ease and acumen; and even more importantly, we can learn to express ourselves with skill and diplomacy. Haykawa writes in an engaging and non-pedantic style as he verses us in vital concepts, the use of which, make engaging in discourse so much more meaningful, instructive, and revealing than before: concepts such as the abstraction ladder, the two-value perspective (I'm right and you're wrong), sloganeering, tunnel vision etc. Perhaps the most valuable lesson of the book is what Hayakawa terms "the blocked mind", wherein a person lumps people together as "jews", "women", "communists", "democrats", "blacks", "Arabs", "homosexuals" or whatever, with no regard to their differences. By showing us a new way of thinking, not lumping people together as for instance, "jews", but respecting all people according to their individuality, we can see from the following list in the book, that such labels are mere reflections of the paranoid minds who purvey them. All of the following wildly diverse human beings are or were, "jews": Albert Einstein, Sandy Koufax, Jascha Heifetz, Benny Goodman, Woody Allen, Henry Kissinger and Kitty Dukakas. I have already purchased a copy of "Science and Sanity" by Alfred Korzybski referred to often by Hayakawa, and look forward to deepening my understanding of this vital area of knowledge which has been so gracefully and skillfully dispensed to me via this book.

This book presents fundamental ways to examine the human relationship to language and thought. Hayakawa presents the building blocks of modern linguistic theories like NLP with precise and illuminating examinations of speech, human emotions, and "common sense." This book is intruiging and at times disturbing. The study of propoganda is mind expanding and illistrative of the dark side of humanity. Think of it as a How-To manual to create a Orwellian 1984-like society. I can't recommend this book more strongly. It will alter the way you think and relate to your own thoughts. Read this book.

Like a previous reviewer, I was required to read this book for an English class, and also like that reviewer I re-discovered it a few years back. Senator Hayakawa's main point is that, since it is language we humans use in order to think, and since language has such an extraordinary power to influence others and ourselves, we should pay heed to how we use it and how we interpret it. In *Language in Thought and Action* Hayakawa discusses ways of better understanding language, and therefore thought, and therefore action, including the use of the "operational definition" and the need to recognize different levels of abstraction. His essay comparing poetry and advertising is, all by itself, worth the price of the book. You'll never again be so smug about your pronouncements or those of others after reading about two-valued logic versus the multi-valued orientation. You'll learn why the words "Tell me more" can make a difference to you. I like this book so much I decided to mail several copies to people I know as surprise gifts, along with a letter explaining my enthusiasm for it. If you use language, if you think, if you act, you should read this book.

Like a previous reviewer, I was required to read this book for an English class, and also like that reviewer I re-discovered it a few years back. Senator Hayakawa's main point is that, since it is language we humans use in order to think, and since language has such an extraordinary power to influence others and ourselves, we should pay heed to how we use it and how we interpret it. In *Language in Thought and Action* Hayakawa discusses ways of better understanding language, and therefore thought, and therefore action, including the use of the "operational definition" and the need to recognize different levels of abstraction. His essay comparing poetry and advertising is, all by itself, worth the price of the book. You'll never again be so smug about your pronouncements or those of others after reading about two-valued logic versus the multi-valued orientation. You'll learn why the words "Tell me more" can make a difference to you. I like this book so much I decided to mail several copies to people I know as surprise gifts, along with a letter explaining my enthusiasm for it. If you use language, if you think, if you act, you should read this book. Update of November 2009: I am now reading this book for a fourth time. You can read a long excerpt at [...].