Steven Pinker Quotes

A collection of quotes by Steven Pinker.

Steven Pinker is an acclaimed cognitive psychologist, linguist, and author, best known for his groundbreaking research in language, psychology, and human nature. Born on September 18, 1954, in Montreal, Canada, Pinker attended McGill University, where he earned his bachelor's degree in experimental psychology. He later obtained a Ph.D. in experimental psychology from Harvard University in 1979.

Throughout his career, Pinker has held prestigious academic positions, including being a professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and later Harvard University. His research primarily focuses on the nature of language and its relationship with the mind. Pinker has contributed significantly to the field of psycholinguistics and cognitive science, often challenging widely accepted theories and providing fresh insights.

Pinker's diverse body of work includes influential books such as "The Language Instinct" (1994), "How the Mind Works" (1997), "The Blank Slate" (2002), and "The Better Angels of Our Nature" (2011). In these and other publications, he explores topics ranging from the evolution of language and human cognition to the role of genes in shaping human behavior. Pinker's works often combine rigorous scientific research with accessible prose, making his ideas influential to both academics and the general public.

Beyond his academic pursuits, Pinker has received numerous accolades for his contributions to understanding human behavior and communication. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Cognitive Science Society, among other high-profile institutions. Pinker's exceptional ability to communicate complex ideas and engage diverse audiences has established him as one of the leading public intellectuals of our time.

Human nature is complex. Even if we do have inclinations tow

Human nature is complex. Even if we do have inclinations toward violence, we also have inclination to empathy, to cooperation, to self-control.

Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to compute

Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to compute it.

As many political writers have pointed out, commitment to po

As many political writers have pointed out, commitment to political equality is not an empirical claim that people are clones.

The task of evolutionary psychology is not to weigh in on hu

The task of evolutionary psychology is not to weigh in on human nature, a task better left to others. It is to add the satisfying kind of insight that only science can provide: to connect what we know about human nature with the rest of our knowledge of how the world works, and to explain the largest number of facts with the smallest number of assumptions.

It's natural to think that living things must be the handiwo

It's natural to think that living things must be the handiwork of a designer. But it was also natural to think that the sun went around the earth. Overcoming naive impressions to figure out how things really work is one of humanity's highest callings.( Time Magazine, August 7, 2005)

Religion Science Skepticism

The stuff of life turned out to be not a quivering, glowing,

The stuff of life turned out to be not a quivering, glowing, wondrous gel but a contraption of tiny jigs, springs, hinges, rods, sheets, magnets, zippers, and trapdoors, assembled by a data tape whose information is copied, downloaded and scanned.

Evolutionary psychology is one of four sciences that are bri

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

Nature Science Humannature

It Begins with skepticism. The history of human folly, and o

It Begins with skepticism. The history of human folly, and our own susceptibility to illusions and fallacies, tell us that men and women are fallible.

Science Skepticism

the mind is a neural computer

the mind is a neural computer

Art works because it appeals to certain faculties of the min

Art works because it appeals to certain faculties of the mind. Music depends on details of the auditory system, painting and sculpture on the visual system. Poetry and literature depend on language.

By exploring the political and moral colorings of discoverie

By 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.

Many artists and scholars have pointed out that ultimately a

Many artists and scholars have pointed out that ultimately art depends on human nature.

There has to be innate circuitry that does the learning, tha

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