Book excerpt: "Can it be shown that learning our first language, like any other skill, is a personal work of art emerging from the interaction of body and brain, in making one 'common sense' of the world? Through exploring the basic structure and dynamics of language can we rediscover it as the resolution of a creative synthesis?" In searching for the child's learning secret, or conversely the adult's burden of "innocence lost," the author explores examples of both everyday skills and scientific knowledge to discover his "quartet of consciousness." He shows how this quarrelsome four-the artist and idealist of the arts and the theorist and empiricist of the sciences-emerge naturally through how feel, think, experiment and act, and remerge creatively in language. It challenges academics to recognize the limitations of "nature versus nurture" debates in learning psychology and even biology. Through clear and simple images, van Koeverden presents a unique and dynamic understanding of learning-bringing a delightful new voice into the discussion.