Rob sent me the link to this article called, “Science of Magic” in the New York Times It is fascinating and worth reading, even if you have to register.

A sample from page three:

Retreating to a bar at the Imperial Palace, we talked about a different mystery he had been pondering: the role words play inside the brain. Learn a bit of wine speak — “ripe black plums with an accent of earthy leather” — and you are suddenly equipped with anchors to pin down your fleeting gustatory impressions. Words, he suggested, are “like sheepdogs herding ideas.”

That is one of the best definitions I’ve ever heard.