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16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A stimulating read for anyone interested in language., 1 May 2000
By A Customer
Monday, May 1, 2000Language in Thought and Action by S.I. Hayakawa and Alan R. Hayakawa I found this book very thought provoking. It seeks to stimulate and illuminate where many other works could confuse. For anyone interested in the uses of language and the impact it makes upon our everyday lives I can only highly recommend reading it. It is also a prime example of writing with clarity. I have just finished reading this book after taking it slowly over the last couple of weeks. The ideas in the book are presented in a very clear and readable way. The ideas, whilst they are complex and have impact upon the way in which we use language in any context, are easy to digest. I read it slowly in order to review each section and fully digest them. It is a book which I shall refer back to and recommend to friends and colleagues. As a student of Neuro Linguistic Programming I had known about the book Science and Sanity by Alfred Korzibsky for sometime. Intending to read what I had was told was a large heavy volume I ordered a copy, locally, sometime ago, and am still waiting. I had anticipated a heavy read. When I discovered that Hayakawa's book covered the same area and was available I bought it. I also recognised that it was shorter and well recommended which was additional impetus. The book leads the reader to question the very language that we use and the impact that it has upon the manner in which we think. Language and the way we use it governs how we interact with the world. The internal maps that we create result in our interpretation of events and reality fitting into our own mental structures. The book lead me to the conclusion that unless we relate to the world in a flexible manner then individuals and society exhibit limitations. Probably more worrying is the realisation that we can allow ourselves to be manipulated by language as happened in nazi germany. The book has helped to refresh my understanding of the use of language in all contexts and helped deepen my understanding of the applications of NLP. Ian Bracegirdle at Designing Change
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by Dr Paul Long
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