GeorgeLakoff
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In one of Lenny Bruce's classic routines an agitated Lyndon Johnson -- freshly seated in the White House, and in the privacy of the Oval Office -- is sweatin', swearin', and cussin' as he tries to say "Ni-Ni-Ni ... Ni-groh" but instead keeps returning to a more familiar and vulgar word. Now, at the urging of the UC Berkeley cognitive linguist George Lakoff, liberal America's guru of the moment, progressive Democrats are practicing to get their own reluctant mouths around some magical new vocabulary, in the hope of surviving and eventually overcoming the age of Bush. In his best-selling manual of progressive political advice, Don't Think of an Elephant! , Lakoff asserts that political consciousness, and therefore voter choice, is determined by deeply wired mental structures -- "frames" -- that reflect more-general views and values.
Powell's Books: Marc Cooper on George Lakoff's "Elephant"
George Lakoff Manifesto
One of the world's best-known linguists explains why progressives need to pay more attention to conservatives' most powerful weapon: framing. Lakoff provides a clear explanation of what framing is, why it's so important, and how progressives can use the tactic to their own gain. Read his section on "How to Respond to Conservatives" for examples on how progressives can win arguments with conservatives. If you lean left, don't miss this one. Download | 1 Comment and 3 Reactions About George Lakoff | George Lakoff is Richard and Rhoda Goldman Professor of Cognitive Science and Linguistics at the University of California, Berkeley, and is a founding senior fellow at the Rockridge Institute.
"We are neural beings," states Berkeley cognitive scientist George Lakoff. "Our brains take their input from the rest of our bodies. What our bodies are like and how they function in the world thus structures the very concepts we can use to think.
GEORGE LAKOFF
"Lakoff" and "Professor Lakoff" redirect here. For the sociolinguist, see Robin Lakoff . George P. Lakoff (
George Lakoff - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Linguistics prof. George Lakoff dissects the 'war on terror" and other conservative catchphrases
BERKELEY – With the Democratic National Convention over and the Republican one beginning next week, it seemed a good time to check in with George Lakoff, the UC Berkeley professor of cognitive linguistics whose scrutiny of the language of politics has begun to bring him national recognition. The author of the seminal book "Moral Politics: How Liberals and Conservatives Think," Lakoff's specialty is dissecting "framing," or the ways in which conservatives and liberals position issues to fit their respective moral worldviews. (For more on framing, read this excerpt from the NewsCenter's October 2003 interview with Lakoff.) He grasps how Republicans use language more effectively than Democrats, and what Democrats can do about it. When we last talked to Lakoff, he had just embarked on a one-year sabbatical from UC Berkeley to work on three books, none of them about politics. He got sidetracked.BERKELEY – With Republicans controlling the Senate, the House, and the White House and enjoying a large margin of victory for California Governor-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger, it's clear that the Democratic Party is in crisis. George Lakoff, a UC Berkeley professor of linguistics and cognitive science, thinks he knows why. Conservatives have spent decades defining their ideas, carefully choosing the language with which to present them, and building an infrastructure to communicate them, says Lakoff.
George Lakoff tells how conservatives use language to dominate politics
The Atlantic Online | April 2005 | Thinking of Jackasses | Marc Cooper
In one of Lenny Bruce's classic routines an agitated Lyndon Johnson—freshly seated in the White House, and in the privacy of the Oval Office—is sweatin', swearin', and cussin' as he tries to say "Ni-Ni-Ni … Ni-groh" but instead keeps returning to a more familiar and vulgar word. Now, at the urging of the UC Berkeley cognitive linguist George Lakoff, liberal America's guru of the moment, progressive Democrats are practicing to get their own reluctant mouths around some magical new vocabulary, in the hope of surviving and eventually overcoming the age of Bush. In his best-selling manual of progressive political advice, Don't Think of an Elephant! , Lakoff asserts that political consciousness, and therefore voter choice, is determined by deeply wired mental structures—"frames"—that reflect more-general views and values. "The frames," Lakoff writes, "are in the synapses of our brains, physically present in the form of neural circuitry."