First Impressions
The image that a salesperson projects is an important factor in determining how the customer "feels" about the sales representative. A positive image sets the stage for success while a negative image may result in lost sales and potential failure.
Face To Face: Power of Language, The
Gestures, facial expressions and other variations in body language can certainly play a significant role in social interaction. But it's the actual words and language that people use that often determine how those individuals relate to one another,...
Thinking and Language: Language: Its Complexity and Essence
Language, many believe, provides concrete evidence of our ability to think. Fundamentally, all languages have the same basic parameters, with variations occurring as a result of how the "switch box" linked to these parameters is programmed. The comp...
Language and Religion
Philosopher John Searle talks about what he calls "the language game," and how it's used today with regard to religion and God. Professor Searle says that many people go through the motions with religion, using language to express true belief when, ...
Mind and the World (Part Two), The
Philosopher Stephen Toulmin continues his exploration of the relationship between the mind and the world. He contends that while eighty percent of the way we see the world is based on the way the world present itself to us, the other twenty percent ...
Thinking and Language: Intuition and Decision Making
People make intuitive, immediate judgments sometimes based on nothing more than a tone of voice on the other end of a conversation. People also make more reflective decisions based on thought and reasoning. Daniel Kahneman notes that intuition is li...
Can Language Deprivation Be Made Up?
Linguist, author and university professor Noam Chomsky explores the question of what happens when a child is deprived of exposure to language. If such deprivation is part of a larger problem, such as lack of contact with others, the non-acquisition ...
The Most Amazing Machine: Splitting the Brain
Connecting the left and right hemispheres of the brain is a large bridge of nerve fibers called the corpus callosum. Little was known about this section of the brain until neurosurgeon Joseph Bogen cut the corpus callosum to relieve patients with ...
Chomsky and Language
Philosopher John Searle agrees with Noam Chomsky's contention that a child could not learn a language without some innate mechanism that enables the child to do so. But Professor Searle disagrees with Chomsky's claim that there are universal rules o...
Does All Knowledge Come from Experience?: W.V.O. Quine and Contemporary Empiricism
W.V.O. Quine, one of the most influential philosophers of the 20th century, is a naturalist and an empiricist. Quine views science as a vast web of interconnected beliefs which is related to the sensory experience only "along the periphery." Vital c...