{"title":"Benjamin K. Bergen","description":"Benjamin K. Bergen is a Professor of Cognitive Science at the University of California, San Diego, where he directs the Language and Cognition Laboratory. His writing has appeared in Wired, Scientific American, Psychology Today, Salon, Time, the Los Angeles Times, the Guardian, and the Huffington Post. He lives in San Diego.","products":[{"product_id":"what-the-f-what-swearing-reveals-about-our-language-our-brains-and-ourselves-paperback","title":"What the F: What Swearing Reveals about Our Language, Our Brains, and Ourselves - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eIt may be starred, beeped, and censored -- yet profanity is so appealing that we can't stop using it. In the funniest, clearest study to date, Benjamin Bergen explains why, and what that tells us about our language and brains.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Nearly everyone swears-whether it's over a few too many drinks, in reaction to a stubbed toe, or in flagrante delicto. And yet, we sit idly by as words are banned from television and censored in books. We insist that people excise profanity from their vocabularies and we punish children for yelling the very same dirty words that we'll mutter in relief seconds after they fall asleep. Swearing, it seems, is an intimate part of us that we have decided to selectively deny. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e That's a damn shame. Swearing is useful. It can be funny, cathartic, or emotionally arousing. As linguist and cognitive scientist Benjamin K. Bergen shows us, it also opens a new window onto how our brains process language and why languages vary around the world and over time. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e In this groundbreaking yet ebullient romp through the linguistic muck, Bergen answers intriguing questions: How can patients left otherwise speechless after a stroke still shout \u003ci\u003eGoddamn!\u003c\/i\u003e when they get upset? When did a \u003ci\u003ecock\u003c\/i\u003e grow to be more than merely a rooster? Why is \u003ci\u003ecrap\u003c\/i\u003e vulgar when \u003ci\u003epoo\u003c\/i\u003e is just childish? Do slurs make you treat people differently? Why is the first word that Samoan children say not \u003ci\u003emommy\u003c\/i\u003e but \u003ci\u003eeat shit\u003c\/i\u003e? And why do we extend a middle finger to flip someone the bird? \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Smart as hell and funny as fuck, \u003ci\u003eWhat the F\u003c\/i\u003e is mandatory reading for anyone who wants to know how and why we swear.","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51376126623967,"sku":"9781541617209","price":21.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/TABGgmiFxE9781541617209.webp?v=1789214258"},{"product_id":"louder-than-words-the-new-science-of-how-the-mind-makes-meaning-hardcover","title":"Louder Than Words: The New Science of How the Mind Makes Meaning - Hardcover","description":"\u003cp\u003eWhether it s brusque, convincing, fraught with emotion, or dripping with innuendo, language is fundamentally a tool for conveying meaning a uniquely human magic trick in which you vibrate your vocal cords to make your innermost thoughts pop up in someone else s mind. You can use it to talk about all sorts of things from your new labradoodle puppy to the expansive gardens at Versailles, from Roger Federer s backhand to things that don t exist at all, like flying pigs. And when you talk, your listener fills in lots of details you didn t mention the curliness of the dog s fur or the vast statuary on the grounds of the French palace. What s the trick behind this magic? How does meaning work?In \"Louder than Words,\" cognitive scientist Benjamin Bergen draws together a decade s worth of research in psychology, linguistics, and neuroscience to offer a new theory of how our minds make meaning. When we hear words and sentences, Bergen contends, we engage the parts of our brain that we use for perception and action, repurposing these evolutionarily older networks to create simulations in our minds. These embodied simulations, as they're called, are what makes it possible for us to become better baseball players by merely visualizing a well-executed swing; what allows us to remember which cupboard the diapers are in without looking, and what makes it so hard to talk on a cell phone while we re driving on the highway. Meaning is more than just knowing definitions of words, as others have previously argued. In understanding language, our brains engage in a creative process of constructing rich mental worlds in which we see, hear, feel, and act.Through whimsical examples and ingenious experiments, Bergen leads us on a virtual tour of the new science of embodied cognition. A brilliant account of our human capacity to understand language, \"Louder than Words\" will profoundly change how you read, speak, and listen.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51379059458271,"sku":"9780465028290","price":32.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/FOW_v0NEh9780465028290.webp?v=1789268456"}],"url":"https:\/\/blackandbarhe.com\/collections\/benjamin-k-bergen.oembed","provider":"Black \u0026 Barhe Bookstore","version":"1.0","type":"link"}