A Deeper Dive into Thought and Language

Why is deeper knowledge of language and the way we think important? Say you read this sentence: “It was a brand name everybody knew.” All of us would understand that. We’d think Coke or Ford or Verizon, say. But what if you knew that a brand was originally a stick or rod with a fiery, hot end used to mark animals? And then the name was used for the mark itself on the animal hide? You’d read that sentence differently, more deeply, because of your knowledge.

 

It makes me think about how deeply sy...