Steven PinkerEvolutionary psychology is one of four sciences that are bringing human nature back into the picture. ✨ A biological understanding of human nature. Edge Interview, www.edge.… ▶361Humanity
Steven PinkerHowever much we might deplore the profit motive, or consumerist values, if everyone just wants i-Pods we would probably be better off than if they wanted class revolution.351Death
Steven PinkerA word is an arbitrary label - that's the foundation of linguistics. But many people think otherwise. They believe in word magic: that uttering a spell, incantation, curse, or pra… ▶373HumanityThought
Steven PinkerBroadly speaking, the Southern and Western desert and mountain states will vote for the candidate who endorses an aggressive military, a role for religion in public life, laissez-… ▶351LifePolitics
Steven PinkerI teach classes 28 weeks of the year, but the rest of the time I do research and write books.373ReadingTime
Steven PinkerFor one thing, before the 20th century, there were plenty of genocides. We tend to forget about them, partly because they weren't as well documented and partly because, until rece… ▶352Humanity
Steven PinkerI think that a failure of statistical thinking is the major intellectual shortcoming of our universities, journalism and intellectual culture. ✨ Steven Pinker: fighting talk… ▶341Thought
Steven PinkerRegardless of its causes, thoughtlessly blaming the present is a weakness which, even if it is never outlawed, ought to be resisted. Though commonly flaunted as a sign of sophisti… ▶342PoliticsThoughtTime
Steven PinkerIf crime is going down, you shouldn't be increasing resources for crime prevention. Or you should be taking note of what has worked and concentrate the crime-prevention methods on… ▶375Humor
Steven PinkerToday we take it for granted that war happens in smaller, poorer and more backward countries. ✨ Steven Pinker (2011). The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Decli… ▶353Humor
Steven PinkerBy all measures men are the more violent gender.375Reading
Steven Pinker'Capitalism' is a dirty word for many intellectuals, but there are a number of studies showing that open economies and free trade are negatively correlated with genocide and war.354Death
Steven PinkerAll of the violence that doesn't occur doesn't get reported on the news. ✨ War And Violence On The Decline In Modern Times. Talk of the Nation with Neal Conan, www.npr.org. … ▶365Time
Steven PinkerThanks to the redundancy of language, yxx cxn xndxrstxnd whxt x xm wrxtxng xvxn xf x rxplxcx xll thx vxwxls wxth xn x (t gts lttl hrdr f y dn't vn kn whr th vwls r) ✨ Steven… ▶376Philosophy
Steven PinkerThere is no society ever discovered in the remotest corner of the world that has not had something that we would consider the arts. Visual arts - decoration of surfaces and bodies… ▶355DeathHumanityReflection
Steven PinkerMy politics were pretty anarchistic until 1969 when the Montreal police went on strike. Within hours, mayhem and rioting broke out and the Mounties had to be called in to restore … ▶366Politics
Steven PinkerJews are known for many things, but strength, swiftness, and agility are not among them. There is one trait, as controversial as it is familiar, for which Jews are above all known… ▶311Truth
Steven PinkerIt is true that raids and battles killed a tiny percentage of the numbers that die in modern warfare. But in tribal violence, the clashes are more frequent, the percentage of men … ▶366DeathTruth
Steven PinkerI spent 20 years doing research on regular and irregular verbs, not because I'm an obsessive language lover but because it seemed to me that they tapped into a fundamental distinc… ▶377Love
Steven PinkerCommerce is a noble profession, and Jews should get over any self-hatred they might harbor from contemplating the capitalist spirit of diaspora Judaism.322Philosophy
Steven PinkerBy exploring the political and moral colorings of discoveries about what makes us tick, we can have a more honest science and a less fearful intellectual milieu.311PoliticsTruth
Steven PinkerHeritability pertains to the entirety of the genome, not to a single gene.322Politics
Steven PinkerThe elevation of parochial values to the realm of the sacred is a license to dismiss other people's interests, and an imperative to reject the possibility of compromise ✨ St… ▶344Humanity
Steven PinkerThe indispensability of reason does not imply that individual people are always rational or are unswayed by passion and illusion. It only means that people are capable of reason, … ▶333HumanityLoveTime
Steven PinkerThe strongest argument against totalitarianism may be a recognition of a universal human nature; that all humans have innate desires for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness… ▶334HumanityLife
Steven PinkerPeople have long assumed that violence is necessary for political change. Rulers never cede power voluntarily, the argument goes, so progressives have no choice but to contemplate… ▶301HumanityPoliticsReflection
Steven PinkerWe can make fun of hockey fans, but someone who enjoys Homer is indulging the same kind of vicarious bloodlust.356Humanity
Steven PinkerStudents do everything on laptops these days, so I definitely think electronic books are a trend that's going to expand.334ReadingThought
Steven PinkerNatural selection is not the only process that changes organisms over time. But is the only process that seemingly designs organisms over time. ✨ Steven Pinker (2009). How t… ▶356ThoughtTime
Steven PinkerFeminism as a movement for political and social equity is important, but feminism as an academic clique committed to eccentric doctrines about human nature is not. Eliminating dis… ▶356HumanityPoliticsThought
