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57 of 62 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Why should I care about semantics?, June 17, 2000
This review is from: Language in Thought and Action: Fifth Edition (Paperback)
It's been said that language is what differentiates humans from the apes. But why language? Why not hawaiian shirts? Senator Hayakawa's short book explains why language, and particularly meaning, is so important. It stands alone on its own merits, or as an elegant frame to the debate addressed in Korzybski's monolithic 1933 work, _Science and Sanity._ Ever been in an argument? Ever get hot and bothered, maybe even start shouting, until you eventually realize that your disagreement is over the definition of terms? And did you ever stop to consider that there might be more than two sides to every story - maybe an infinite number? Come along as Hayakawa examines these issues in great detail. The style of the book is so lucid, you'll almost feel as if you're being reminded of things you've always known. Does the book reveal universal truth? Or maybe just a skillful command of language? I recommend this to any human who uses language to communicate or think. You'll never look at Hillary Clinton's "politics of meaning" the same way again.
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45 of 48 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Man's crutch, language, dissected and explored, July 16, 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: Language in Thought and Action: Fifth Edition (Paperback)
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.
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47 of 51 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Required reading for anyone who uses language, e.g., you., December 26, 1998
This review is from: Language in Thought and Action: Fifth Edition (Paperback)
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 [...].
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