Menu
Psyche
DonateNewsletter
SIGN IN

Communication and language

Photo of an aeroplane parked at Bologna Airport with the terminal and control tower in the background.

Communication and language

idea

Speaking a different language can change how you act and feel

For many multilinguals, switching between tongues can lead to shifts in personality, revealing the malleability of the self

by Antonella Gismundi

Photo of a bustling night market with colourful tricycles, a crowded street and illuminated stalls in the background.

Communication and language

idea

The tentacles of language are always on the move

An evolutionary biologist explains how human language can shift as slowly or rapidly as organisms adapting to life on Earth

by Klaus M Stiefel

Photo of people socialising in a pub, with one person gesturing animatedly while others listen and smile.

Thinking and intelligence

idea

Expert tips on using gestures to think and talk more effectively

The gesticulations that accompany your speech are so much more than mere hand-waving – they contain and convey meaning

by Susan Goldin-Meadow

Photo of two people sitting on a park bench, one with their arm around the other, surrounded by grass and fallen petals.

Communication and language

idea

Why that hard conversation will probably go better than you think

If you’ve delayed raising a touchy issue, fearing it will backfire, new research could give you the confidence you need

by Matt Huston

Photo of two people observing a museum display of a Indigenous head with feathers and fur in a glass case.

Communication and language

idea

This is what a Neanderthal conversation would have sounded like

Neanderthals had language, but it differed from ours in an important way that could help explain our superior art and tech

by Steven Mithen

Photo of three humpback whales swimming underwater in a dark blue ocean, illuminated by sunlight filtering through the water.

Music

idea

I learned to hear the music of Earth’s underwater musicians

If we consider the sounds of whales and other organisms with an open mind, we find a strange beauty – and can even join in

by David Rothenberg

Photo of a wall with graffiti in French reading “L’art c’est de la merde” meaning “Art is shit”.

Communication and language

idea

Censoring offensive language threatens our freedom to think

The modern obsession with textual purity stems from a misapplication of the philosophies of Wittgenstein and Derrida

by Paul Ham

Ancient stone sculpture of three faces on a shared neck. The figure is weathered and detailed, set against a plain grey background.

Knowledge and reason

idea

Ancient Greek antilogic is the craft of suspending judgment

Sophists like Protagoras used the rhetoric of antilogic to escape from the illusion of truth and make room for uncertainty

by Robin Reames