This week’s science section of The New York Times describes the work of cognitive psychologist Elizabeth S. Spelke, who examines babies to determine which components of human intelligence are hard wired. When discussing her work, Spelke discusses the ways in which the building blocks of knowledge come together, locating the seeming transcendence of the human mind at this confluence. And what facilitates this coming together? Language.
Dr. Spelke has proposed that human language is the secret ingredient, the cognitive catalyst that allows our numeric, architectonic and social modules to join forces, swap ideas and take us to far horizons. “What’s special about language is its productive combinatorial power,” she said. “We can use it to combine anything with anything.”
She points out that children start integrating what they know about the shape of the environment, their navigational sense, with what they know about its landmarks — object recognition — at just the age when they begin to master spatial language and words like “left” and “right.”
This is something to think about as you take on Vocabulary learning at Vocabulary.com. The more you learn, the more freedom you are giving your brain. Think of yourself as unlocking the doors to rooms that were previously closed off to you.
You can start by learning "Insights from the Youngest Minds," a Vocabulary List based on the Spelke piece. Or just play the Challenge. Think of it as calisthenics for your brain.