92 Steven Pinker Quotes for You to Enjoy

Steven Pinker

Canadian Scientist

Born: Sep 18, 1954

Language Life People Think World You

Related authors: David Suzuki Frederick Banting Gad Saad Hans Selye Hugh Ross Orlando Aloysius Battista Sid Meier William Osler

Cognitive psychology tells us that the unaided human mind is vulnerable to many fallacies and illusions because of its reliance on its memory for vivid anecdotes rather than systematic statistics. Steven Pinker

Memory Mind Systematic Statistics Reliance Tells Anecdotes Vivid Rather Because Vulnerable Than Human Psychology Us Human Mind Many Illusions Cognitive

When people talk, they lay lines on each other, do a lot of role playing, sidestep, shilly-shally and engage in all manner of vagueness and innuendo. We do this and expect others to do it, yet at the same time we profess to long for the plain truth, for people to say what they mean, simple as that. Such hypocrisy is a human universal. Steven Pinker

Truth Time People Simple Long Hypocrisy Other Others Innuendo Say Lay Talk Lines Lot Expect Role Same Human Same Time Mean Plain Manner Engage Profess Each Universal Playing Vagueness

Morality is not just any old topic in psychology but close to our conception of the meaning of life. Moral goodness is what gives each of us the sense that we are worthy human beings. Steven Pinker

Life Old Goodness Sense Meaning Of Life Our Topic Moral Worthy Morality Gives Conception Close Any Human Just Human Beings Psychology Meaning Meaning Of Us Beings Each

Cognitive psychology has shown that the mind best understands facts when they are woven into a conceptual fabric, such as a narrative, mental map, or intuitive theory. Disconnected facts in the mind are like unlinked pages on the Web: They might as well not exist. Steven Pinker

The 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. The doctrine of the blank slate... is a totalitarian's dream. Steven Pinker

Happiness Life Nature Liberty Totalitarianism Argument Human Nature Recognition Dream Totalitarian Strongest Blank Pursuit Pursuit Of Happiness Blank Slate Doctrine May Human Against Innate Slate Universal Humans Desires

Societies that empower women are less violent in every way. Steven Pinker

Women Every Way Empower Women Are Less Societies Violent

Northeastern and most coastal states will vote for the candidate who is more closely aligned with international cooperation and engagement, secularism and science, gun control, individual freedom in culture and sexuality, and a greater role for the government in protecting the environment and ensuring economic equality. Steven Pinker

Government Freedom Vote Science Culture Equality Will Gun Gun Control Control Aligned States Ensuring Secularism Sexuality More Economic Individual Individual Freedom Environment Most Protecting Greater Role Closely Candidate Engagement Coastal Who International International Cooperation Cooperation

Personality and socialization aren't the same thing. Steven Pinker

Personality Same Thing Same Socialization Thing

We're living in primate heaven. We're warm, dry, we're not hungry, we don't have fleas and ticks and infections. So why are we so miserable? Steven Pinker

Miserable Living Hungry Dry Heaven Warm Fleas Why

It's likely that taboo words are stored in the right hemisphere of the brain. Massive left hemisphere strokes or the entire surgical removal of the left hemisphere can leave people with no articulate speech other than the ability to swear, spout cliches and song lyrics. Steven Pinker

People Song Words Other Lyrics Strokes Ability Taboo Entire Removal Likely Massive Cliches Leave Surgical Brain Left Than Articulate Stored Swear Hemisphere Right Speech

When time permits, I try to see interesting people in the cities I visit. In Seattle, I met Paul Allen, the co-founder of Microsoft, who is shy in personality but flamboyant in his philanthropy. Steven Pinker

One of the things that people complain about is loneliness, disconnectedness. If you live in a society where your life is rarely threatened and most of your relationships are more on an economic exchange basis, then this could leave people feeling less connected. Steven Pinker

Life Loneliness You People Feeling Live Society Complain Relationships One Of The Things Threatened Rarely About More Economic Could Exchange Most Leave Where Then Your Less Connected Things Basis

You have to remember that not every creature that was evolving left behind its skull or its tools for our convenience tens of thousands of years later. Most bones or most tools rot or get buried and are never found again. Steven Pinker

You Remember Every Tools Our Later Evolving Thousands Thousands Of Years Never Tens Tens Of Thousands Most Years Left Get Behind Convenience Buried Again Rot Skull Creature Found Bones

There has to be innate circuitry that does the learning, that creates the culture, that acquires the culture, and that responds to socialization. Steven Pinker

Learning Culture Responds Does Creates Socialization Innate

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. Steven Pinker

Me History People Long Cruelty Power Feelings Nothing Believe Every Other Philosophy See Long History Except Student Academic Force Exercise Learns Deny Human Just Anyone Vice Conscious

All our behaviours are a result of neurophysiological activity in the brain. There is no reason to believe there is any magic going on. Steven Pinker

Result Believe Our Magic No Reason Brain Any Going Reason Activity

Parents provide their children with genes as well as an environment, so the fact that talkative parents have kids with good language skills could simply mean that and that the same genes that make parents talkative make children articulate. Steven Pinker

Good Language Parents Kids Fact Could Simply Environment Genes Well Make Talkative Provide Articulate Same Children Mean Skills

With violence, as with so many other concerns, human nature is the problem, but human nature is also the solution. Steven Pinker

Nature Problem Human Nature Other Solution Also Concerns Human Many Violence

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