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
possibility cases genes
But in most cases even the possibility that the correlations reflect shared genes is taboo.
commitment equality people
As many political writers have pointed out, commitment to political equality is not an empirical claim that people are clones.
psychology four human-nature
Evolutionary psychology is one of four sciences that are bringing human nature back into the picture.
personality socialization
Personality and socialization aren't the same thing.
reading technology perspective
Reading is a technology for perspective-taking. When someone else's thoughts are in your head, you are observing the world from that person's vantage point.
psychology evolution indispensable
Evolution is an indispensable component of any satisfying explanation of our psychology.
may individual humane
In societies no less than individuals, acknowledging our limitations may ultimately be more humane than denying them.
violence human-nature problem
With violence, as with so many other concerns, human nature is the problem, but human nature is also the solution.
civilization accomplishment enlightenment
For all the tribulations in our lives, for all the troubles that remain in the world, the decline of violence is an accomplishment that we can savor - and an impetus to cherish the forces of civilization and enlightenment that made it possible.
long world groups
As long as your ideology identifies the main source of the world's ills as a definable group, it opens the world up to genocide.
mother white earth
Mother Teresa was the very embodiment of saintliness: white-clad, sad-eyed, ascetic and often photographed with the wretched of the earth.
matter atrocities stills
No matter how inured you get to atrocities, you're still always stunned and shocked by how cruel and wasteful Homo sapiens can be.
tools psychologist know-thyself
One of the perks of being a psychologist is access to tools that allow you to carry out the injunction to know thyself.
philosophy believe exercise
As every student in Philosophy 101 learns, nothing can force me to believe that anyone except me is conscious. This power to deny that other people have feelings is not just an academic exercise but an all-too-common vice, as we see in the long history of human cruelty.