Steven Pinker is a Canadian-American cognitive psychologist and author, born in Montreal in 1954, who is the Johnstone Family Professor of Psychology at Harvard University. He is known for books on language, the mind and human progress, including The Language Instinct, The Blank Slate, The Better Angels of Our Nature and Enlightenment Now.
Brian Rose has interviewed Professor Pinker twice on London Real, in 2013 and 2019, and the first interview was re-released in 2015. They talked about the culture of MIT and Harvard, his anarchist past and Noam Chomsky, why linguistics matters, his argument that violence has declined, the idea that the world has too much morality, cognitive biases and his case for reason, science and humanism.
Each episode is listed below in order, with a short summary.
The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism And Enlightenment Now (April 2019). His most recent London Real interview and the clearest case for his optimism about human progress. For linguistics, Chomsky and morality, watch Too Much Morality (2013).
Pinker argues, in The Better Angels of Our Nature and on London Real, that violence has fallen over the long run of human history, even though news coverage makes the world seem more dangerous.
In 2013 he argued that the world suffers from too much morality rather than too little, and that archaic moral codes and ways of thinking have often fuelled conflict rather than prevented it.
Speaking in 2019 about Enlightenment Now, Pinker made the case that reason, science and humanism have driven large gains in health, wealth, safety and knowledge, and that taking this progress for granted is risky.
In the same interview he discussed the cognitive biases everyone is prone to and how to guard against them, which he presents as one of the main reasons to value reason and evidence.
Pinker’s early work was on language. On London Real he explained why linguistics is central to understanding human nature, and spoke about his relationship with the ideas of Noam Chomsky.
Steven Pinker is a cognitive psychologist and author, born in Montreal in 1954, who is the Johnstone Family Professor of Psychology at Harvard University. His books include The Language Instinct, The Blank Slate, The Better Angels of Our Nature and Enlightenment Now.
He talked about MIT and Harvard, his anarchist past, Noam Chomsky, language, the decline of violence, the idea that the world has too much morality, cognitive biases and his case for reason, science and humanism.
Start with the 2019 interview on Enlightenment Now for his case for human progress. Watch Too Much Morality from 2013 for language, Chomsky and his views on morality and violence.
Brian Rose has interviewed him twice, in 2013 and 2019. The 2013 interview was also re-released in 2015 as Too Much Morality? REDUX.
Enlightenment Now, published in 2018, argues that reason, science and humanism have made life healthier, richer and safer for most people, and that these gains are often overlooked. Pinker discussed it with Brian Rose in 2019.
Yes. In The Better Angels of Our Nature he argues that violence has declined over the long course of human history. He discussed the idea on London Real.
Official site: stevenpinker.com
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