Summary: Don't Think of an Elephant!: Review and Analysis of George Lakoff's Book

By BusinessNews Publishing

The must-read summary of George Lakoff’s book: “Don’t Think of an Elephant!: Know Your Values and Frame the Debate”.

This complete summary of “Don’t Think of an Elephant!” by George Lakoff, an influential cognitive linguist, reveals the way conservatives think and how to counter their arguments. In his book, the author explains in detail how conservatives have framed the debate and provides examples of how to reframe it by knowing your values and identity. Lakoff has drawn from his years of experience to provide readers with this practical political handbook on how to finally win the debate.

Added-value of this summary:
• Save time
• Understand how political discourse and debate work in the context of US elections
• Expand your knowledge of American politics and democracy

To learn more, read “Don’t Think of an Elephant!” and discover how American liberals can finally reframe the debate away from playing into the hands of conservative interests.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Political Book Summaries
• Release date: Jan 30, 2017
• ISBN: 9782511000601

Book preview

Book Abstract

Frames are the mental structures that shape the way we view the world. Frames are the connotations that we instill words with and the context in which we place those value-laden words. No one sees or hears frames, they are part of what scientists refer to as the cognitive unconscious, inaccessible to the conscious mind, but at play in our decisions, our actions and the way that we process data. All words are defined relative to conceptual frames. When we hear a word, its frame or collection of frames is activated in our brain.

Reframing is being used in the political arena particularly well by conservatives to change what people view as commonsense or intuitively correct assessments of their reality. In Don’t Think of an Elephant, George Lakoff explains how progressives should use framing techniques to counter conservative arguments and reframe the debate.

About the Author

George Lakoff is the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Professor of Cognitive Science and Linguistics at the University of California, Berkeley. He is the founding senior fellow at the Rockridge