Steven Pinker Quotes - Page 11

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• You could think of an ecosystem as a bunch of antagonistic arms races, almost: Everything that an animal depends upon for food is the body part of some other animal or plant who would just as soon keep that body part for itself.

  Steven Pinker

  Animal, Thinking, Race

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• In societies no less than individuals, acknowledging our limitations may ultimately be more humane than denying them.

  Steven Pinker

  May, Individual, Humane

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• Evolutionary psychology is one of four sciences that are bringing human nature back into the picture.

  Steven Pinker

  Psychology, Four, Human Nature

  "A biological understanding of human nature". Edge Interview, www.edge.org. September 18, 2017.

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• Language is a window into human nature, but it is also a fistula, an open wound through which we're exposed to an infectious world.

  Steven Pinker

  World, Language, Human Nature

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• I don't consider myself to be that radical a thinker.

  Steven Pinker

  Radical, Thinker

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• 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

  Dream, Pursuit Of Happiness, Desire

  "Steven Pinker: the optimistic voice of science" by Andrew Anthony, www.theguardian.com. September 17, 2011.

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• The reason the United States is not so likely to invade Iran is precisely because of the lessons learned from Iraq. And conversely, the Iranian push towards nuclear capability is calculated to deter invasions like the kind deposing Saddam Husain.

  Steven Pinker

  Iran, Iraq, Lesson Learned

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• People are under the impression that dictionaries legislate language. What a dictionary does is keep track of usages over time.

  Steven Pinker

  Track, People, Doe

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• Space and force pervade language. Many cognitive scientists (including me) have concluded from their research on language that a handful of concepts about places, paths, motions, agency, and causation underlie the literal or figurative meanings of tens of thousands of words and constructions, not only in English but in every other language that has been studied.

  Steven Pinker

  Agency, Space, Research

  Steven Pinker (2009). “How the Mind Works”, p.355, W. W. Norton & Company

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• Paris Hilton, it turns out, is related to fellow celebrity jailbirds Zsa Zsa Gabor and G. Gordon Liddy.

  Steven Pinker

  Paris, Turns, Related

  "Surprising Family Trees!". abcnews.go.com. October 18, 2007.

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• One of the perks of being a psychologist is access to tools that allow you to carry out the injunction to know thyself.

  Steven Pinker

  Tools, Psychologist, Know Thyself

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• Photography is a demanding action sport. The light can change so quickly. I often find myself sprinting so that I can catch the perfect light falling on a photogenic subject.

  Steven Pinker

  Sports, Photography, Fall

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• Like the early days of the Internet, the dawn of personal genomics promises benefits and pitfalls that no one can foresee.

  Steven Pinker

  Promise, Benefits, Dawn

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• Language mavens commonly confuse their own peeves with a worsening of the language.

  Steven Pinker

  Mavens, Language, Peeves

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• An ideology can provide a satisfying narrative that explains chaotic events and collective misfortunes in a way that flatters the virtue and competence of believers, while being vague or conspiratorial enough to withstand skeptical scrutiny.

  Steven Pinker

  Events, Narrative, Way

  "The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined". Book by Steven Pinker, www.huffingtonpost.com. 2011.

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• Regardless 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 sophistication, it can be an opportunity for one-upmanship and an excuse for misanthropy, especially against the young.

  Steven Pinker

  Opportunity, Weakness, Causes

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• So no, it's not all in the genes, but what isn't in the genes isn't in the family environment either. It can't be explained in terms of the overall personalities or the child-rearing practices of parents.

  Steven Pinker

  Children, Practice, Personality

  "A biological understanding of human nature". Edge Interview, www.edge.org. September 18, 2017.

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• I like ice hockey. No one is ever going to ask me to write about that as a metaphor for life.

  Steven Pinker

  Writing, Hockey, Ice

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• I get drawn in when I feel there is something deep and mysterious going on beneath the surface of something.

  Steven Pinker

  Mysterious, Beneath The Surface, Surface

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• The connections I draw between human nature and political systems in my new book, for example, were prefigured in the debates during the Enlightenment and during the framing of the American Constitution.

  Steven Pinker

  Book, Political, Enlightenment

  "A biological understanding of human nature". Edge Interview, www.edge.org. September 8, 2002.

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• 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

  Song, People, Brain

  "This much I know". Interview with Tom Templeton, www.theguardian.com. June 21, 2008.

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