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
mind today genetics
Most intellectuals today have a phobia of any explanation of the mind that invokes genetics.
men gender violent
By all measures men are the more violent gender.
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.
thinking games play
I think a lot of moral debates are not over what is the basis of justice, but who gets a ticket to play in the game.
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.
thinking intellectual culture
I think that a failure of statistical thinking is the major intellectual shortcoming of our universities, journalism and intellectual culture.
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.
children ideas achievement
The idea that children are passive repositories to be shaped by their parents has been massively overstated. A child's peer group is a far greater determinant of its development and achievements than parental aspiration.