How do humans utilize diverse multisensory resources to establish connection beyond the limitations of purely rational or linguistic frameworks? Ruth H. Finnegan, a distinguished anthropologist, draws upon extensive cross-cultural research to challenge Western-centric ideologies that prioritize referential language. She argues that human interaction is fundamentally multisensory, relying on a complex interplay of gesture, material culture, and sensory perception to bridge gaps across time and space.

Scholars in the field of anthropology and communication studies recognize this work as a significant challenge to traditional linguistic-centered theories of human interaction. Readers frequently note the accessible yet rigorous nature of Finnegan's prose, which provides a foundational framework for understanding the breadth of human communicative capacity.