Look carefully at these two pictures (shown above) of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Does it seem as if the tower on the right side is leaning a bit more than the tower on the left? Or did you assume that the photograph of the tower on the right was taken from a different angle than that taken for the tower on the left? Continue reading
In many languages around the world (English, Russian, Spanish, Latvian, Chinese, Dutch, etc.), weight is associated with importance, influence and emphasis. For example, in English we might say such things as (1) “the manager has some weighty decisions to make” or (2) “get the president to sign because his signature carries more weight” or (3) “you need more facts in order to add greater weight to your argument.” But does the link between weight and importance only exist in the realm of linguistics? Research published in 2009 by Nils B. Jostmann, Daniel Lakens and Thomas W. Schubert suggests otherwise. Continue reading
