Steven Pinker
Steven Pinker
Steven Arthur "Steve" Pinkeris a Canadian-born American cognitive scientist, psychologist, linguist, and popular science author. He is Johnstone Family Professor in the Department of Psychology at Harvard University, and is known for his advocacy of evolutionary psychology and the computational theory of mind...
NationalityCanadian
ProfessionScientist
Date of Birth18 September 1954
CountryCanada
narrative way events
An ideology can provide a satisfying narrative that explains chaotic events and collective misfortunes in a way that flatters the virtue and competence of believers, while being vague or conspiratorial enough to withstand skeptical scrutiny.
theory-of-evolution atheism would-be
Of course the theory of evolution would be vacuous if it offered a glib explanation for every inexplicable act.
gray-matter differences brain
According to a recent study of the brains of identical and fraternal twins, differences in the amount of gray matter in the frontal lobes are not only genetically influenced but are significantly correlated with differences in intelligence.
laptops programming
My laptop has freed me to travel.
humanity calling overcoming
Overcoming naive impressions to figure out how things really work is one of humanity's highest callings.
numbers psychology add
The task of evolutionary psychology is not to weigh in on human nature, a task better left to others. It is to add the satisfying kind of insight that only science can provide: to connect what we know about human nature with the rest of our knowledge of how the world works, and to explain the largest number of facts with the smallest number of assumptions.
gmos perception brain
But the newest research is showing that many properties of the brain are genetically organized, and don't depend on information coming in from the senses.
sound creatures visuals
We are visual creatures. Visual things stay put, whereas sounds fade.
numbers people world
Statisticians tell us that people underestimate the sheer number of coincidences that are bound to happen in a world governed by chance.
violent states
Pre-state societies were far more violent than our own.
track people doe
People are under the impression that dictionaries legislate language. What a dictionary does is keep track of usages over time.
paris turns related
Paris Hilton, it turns out, is related to fellow celebrity jailbirds Zsa Zsa Gabor and G. Gordon Liddy.
thoughtful style oral-tradition
Language pedants hew to an oral tradition of shibboleths that have no basis in logic or style, that have been defied by great writers for centuries, and that have been disavowed by every thoughtful usage manual.
numbers looks significant
I do look for openings where I can overturn popular misconceptions, but unlike Christopher Hitchens, I am neither a contrarian nor a lone heretic. I like to have a significant number of academics watching my back.