Academics lack perspective. In a debate on whether the world is round,…

Steven Pinker
216 citations
Academics lack perspective. In a debate on whether the world is round, they would argue, 'No,' because it's an oblate spheroid. They suffer from 'the curse of knowledge': the inability to imagine what it's like not to know something that they know.
Hope
12

More Author Quotes

Fiction is empathy technology.
The typical imperative from biology is not Thou shalt... , but If ... then ... else. ✨ Steven Pinker (2009). How the Mind Works, p.27, W. W. Norton & Company
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 … ▶
The great appeal of the doctrine that the mind is a blank slate is the simple mathematical fact that zero equals zero. ✨ A biological understanding of human nature. Edge Interview, www.edge.org. Sept … ▶
Disgust is intuitive microbiology ✨ Steven Pinker (2009). How the Mind Works, p.383, W. W. Norton & Company

Academics lack perspective. In a debate on whether the world is round, they would argue, 'No,' because it's an oblate spheroid. They suffer from 'the curse of knowledge': the inability to imagine what it's like not to know something that they know.

More Author Quotes

Most Cited Authors

The Best Quotes

Most Liked Authors

Curated Author Quotes