How Our Words Can Change the Way We Think
By Tom Heehler
By Tom Heehler
Have you ever learned a new word, and then after having done so, a few days later, happened upon that very word again, and then again a couple of weeks later? You realize that in all your past readings, never once did you really notice that word until you had taken the time to learn its meaning.
The truth is, you had probably encountered the word a hundred times, but because you never understood it, for all intents and purposes, it wasn’t there. That’s because your mind has a way of papering over what it does not understand with what little it does. In each occurrence, your brain fills in the empty spaces as best it knows how, based on the incomplete aspects of your incomplete vocabulary. Here’s why that’s a very bad thing. (Continue reading here.)
