Your Words Influence Your Perspective

There is a fascinating article over at Psychology Today on how words influence our perspective (of course it works the other way, too, but don't be pedantic).

I really liked this bit:

When someone told him that friction makes shoe leather wear out, [Feynman's] response was “Shoe leather wears out because it rubs against the sidewalk and the little notches and bumps on the sidewalk grab pieces and pull them off.” That is knowledge. To simply say, “It is because of friction,” is sad, because it is empty definition.

HT: Lifehacker