The Instruction of Imagination: Language as a Social Communication Technology is a 2015 book by Daniel Dor. In it, Dor proposes a new theoretical characterization of language as a social communication technology, collectively constructed for the specific function of the instruction of imagination. It makes four foundational arguments: Language is social: it is a property of the social network, and the product of a collective process of invention and development. It resides between speakers, not in them, at a level of organization and complexity that transcends the individual mind. Language is a communication technology: it develops, propagates and changes like other communication technologies humans have invented, such as the book, fax, telephone, and social media. Its modus operandi is best analyzed in technological terms. Language is designed for the specific function of the instruction of imagination: unlike other systems of communication, language allows speakers to instruct their interlocutors in the process of imagining the intended experience. Language is collectively constructed through the continuous process of experiential mutual-identification for language: in the process, individuals systematically isolate and highlight points of commonalities between their experiences, formally mark thems, and develop mutually-identified prescriptive norms for their use as instructions for imagination. Synopsis The first three chapters of the book are dedicated to a definitional exposition of the theory. In chapter 1, Dor presents the basic premises of the theory and positions it within the wider context of post-Chomskian linguistics, discussing also the history of the social conception of language. In chapter 2, Dor defines the specific functional strategy of language as a communication technology for the instruction of imagination, and shows how it is different from the experiential strategies employed by all other communication systems. In chapter 3, Dor presents a technical description of language – its constitutive parts, their social construction, the way they fit, and how they function together. Chapters 4 and 5 deal with issues of meaning. Chapter 4 discusses lexical semantics: from the rise and fall of the definitional-componential approach, through the emergence of prototype theory, to the current investigation of polysemy. In chapter 5, Dor presents a re-interpretation of the question of linguistic relativity as a question about the dialectic influence of a technology on its users. Chapter 6 contains a more detailed discussion of the processes involved in the production and comprehension of linguistic utterances. In chapter 7, Dor discusses how his theory handles syntactic complexity, claiming