The Language Instinct: The New Science of Language and Mind

I finally made it through this! I did not always find it easy going, and I know I did not understand everything, while there are other points I might disagree with if I felt more qualified – but overall I learned a lot and I'm glad I did. I was struck especially by the reasoning behind why learning a language is only possible in early childhood (it takes up a lot of energy and since in most of evolution humans only needed to learn one language, it was more evolutionarily favorable to divert those forces once it has been learned); and why our left brain controls the right side of our body (a 180 degree twist of the head at some point in evolution, during the change from crawling creatures whose spine is on the ground and in “front” to walking creatures with the spine in back and soft parts in front.)

I really like how Steven Pinker writes, even if the topic of the book is really technical he knows how to make it easy to understand and keeps you interested because of all the facts he gives.

After reading this book you won't ever think about language in the same way, you'll notice that there is no correct language and it is an ever-evolving living subject, the so called mistakes are sometimes a logically better approach to language and that is why most kids repeat them. This book also gives a clear insight on how the human brain is structured because language is a central part of our everyday lives.

The audiobook version from Brilliance audio is narrated by an automaton, making it almost impossible to enjoy any insights provided by Pinker. I highly recommend avoiding this version at all costs!