Words can console or hurt us, can haunt us for days or even years. When we read a love letter or are involved in an argument, we are reminded of the power of language. Often we aren’t even aware of its influence. Which is why we are so easily manipulated, for example by advertising. In this revealing, insightful book, Stefanie Schramm and Claudia Wüstenhagen show us that language affects our lives and thoughts in more far-reaching ways than we realise. It even influences our perceptions and consciousness, as revealed by the language of an Aboriginal tribe that has no spatial labels such as “in front,” “behind,” “right” or “left,” but only directions in the sense of the points of the compass. This has structured the tribe’s sense of orientation so that they can always and with complete precision describe the position of certain places, even at night. The authors have collected startling results of research in a diverse spectrum of fields, including psycholinguistics, psychology, neuroscience and even economics. They conclude by describing how we can use the power of words to our own end. It has been proven, for example, that talking about fear weakens its impact. And it turns out that learning foreign languages is not only good exercise for the brain but also reveals new facets of one’s personality.
