A man after my own heart
As you are reading these words you are taking part in one of the wonders of the natural world. For you and I belong to a species with a remarkable ability: we can shape events in each other’s brains with exquisite precision. I am not referring to telepathy or mind control or the other obsessions of fringe science; even in the depictions of believers these are blunt instruments compared to an ability that is uncontroversially present in every one of us. That ability is language. Simply by making noises with our mouths, we can reliably cause precise new combinations of ideas to arise in each other’s minds. The ability comes so naturally that we are apt to forget what a miracle it is. – Steven Pinker, The Language Instinct
Neat! It particularly resonates with me, since I’ve said much the same thing myself, both on the opening page of this site and in this piece on http://www.webamused.com (including the comparison to claims of telepathy).