[One Thousand Characters a Day] Such an Intellectual Walk <2> - The Joy Given by Perfect Characters

Editor's NoteThis book is set in an unremarkable neighborhood in Manhattan. The detailed descriptions of the urban landscape feel like New York, yet also like Seoul; unfamiliar yet familiar. A 'neighborhood' is a magical space where all history, architecture, nature, and daily life are intertwined. This is because the things you can see in one environment are endless. Alexandra Horowitz, a cognitive scientist and bestselling author, unfolds the story centered around eleven walks taken with experts from various fields in different neighborhoods of New York. With added scientific knowledge and astonishing insights, what seems like an ordinary city walk becomes an intellectual and delightful exploration. As readers, we not only gain a new perspective on the world but also regain the sense of wonder that everyone once had but had forgotten how to feel. Word count: 1001 characters.

In early life, the sounds babies make resonate specially with parents. There are various cries, from irritable whines to angry shouts, as well as soft sounds of contentment. Babies fluctuate unpredictably between being stubborn revolutionaries and gentle kittens. However, as long as parents converse beside the baby, the baby will soon begin to make different sounds. Humming, whining, and sniffing sounds that flow from the baby's mouth are all sounds that compose the language (or languages) floating above the baby's head. The infant brain magically distinguishes the parents' language from all the world's nonverbal sounds, including buzzing, thumping, and growling noises.

It is said that in the first five years after birth, children learn one word every two waking hours. Isn't that amazing? As adults who have already lost that remarkable ability, we can only envy it. Most of us struggle to recall a strange word we first saw in this morning's newspaper. Yet, while I dream that my brain could absorb words like a sponge as a baby's does, I also feel fear about children's development. This is because children are gradually losing the ability to think without language and without the cultural knowledge embedded in language every hour. Yes, what I envy most about children is the absence of language.

(Omitted)

Just as architectural styles can identify a city, widely used font types can also reveal a city. Except for the new signs printed in computer fonts displayed by similar phone shops and restaurants, the lettering remaining on buildings provides clues about when the city was built, how it evolved, and whether there were destructions or restorations during its evolution. Although New York City appears overall as a jumbled mix, traces from the early 20th century remain clear. The periodic appearance of lettering in Art Deco or Art Moderne styles indicates that construction was active from the 1920s to the 1930s.

－Alexandra Horowitz, Such an Intellectual Walk, translated by Park Dasom, Lion Books, 18,800 KRW