The typical imperative from biology is not "Thou shalt... ," but "If ... then ... else. — Steven Pinker Copy Share Image
Most intellectuals today have a phobia of any explanation of the mind that invokes genetics. — Steven Pinker Copy Share Image
I have never been a fan of science fiction. For me, fiction has to explore the combinatorial possibilities of people interacting under… — Steven Pinker Copy Share Image
Evolution is an indispensable component of any satisfying explanation of our psychology. — Steven Pinker Copy Share Image
Thinking is a physical process, the human brain is not exempt from evolution — Steven Pinker Copy Share Image
“Many people think that the theory of the selfish gene says that “animals try to spread their genes.” That misstates the facts… — Steven Pinker Copy Share Image
When a scientist considers all high-tech mental machinery needed to arrange words into ordinary sentences, prescriptive rules are, at best, inconsequential little… — Steven Pinker Copy Share Image
Equity feminism is a moral doctrine about equal treatment that makes no commitments regarding open empirical issues in psychology or biology. — Steven Pinker Copy Share Image
One can choose to obsess over prescriptive rules, but they have no more to do with human language than the criteria for… — Steven Pinker Copy Share Image
Just as blueprints don't necessarily specify blue buildings, selfish genes don't necessarily specify selfish organisms. As we shall see, sometimes the most… — Steven Pinker Copy Share Image
Natural selection is not the only process that changes organisms over time. But is the only process that seemingly designs organisms over… — Steven Pinker Copy Share Image
“Contrary to popular belief, the gene-centered theory of evolution does not imply that the point of all human striving is to spread… — Steven Pinker Copy Share Image
In a high tech world the cure for the tragic shortcomings and perilous fallacies of human intuition is education, but education in… — Steven Pinker Copy Share Image
Of course the theory of evolution would be vacuous if it offered a glib explanation for every inexplicable act. — Steven Pinker Copy Share Image
“Organisms are selected to deploy violence only in circumstances where the expected benefits outweigh the expected costs.” — Steven Pinker Copy Share Image
Human evolution, at first, seems extraordinary. How could the process that gave rise to slugs and oak trees and fish produce a… — Steven Pinker Copy Share Image
It's the old idea that the process of evolution is some push in the direction of greater complexity--in particular greater intellectual complexity.… — Steven Pinker Copy Share Image
Forcing modern speakers of English to not - whoops, not to split an infinitive because it isn't done in Latin makes about as much… — Steven Pinker Copy Share Image
Consistent style prevents presentation from getting in the way of content. — Steven Pinker Copy Share Image
The supposedly immaterial soul, we now know, can be bisected with a knife, altered by chemicals, started or stopped by electricity, and extinguished by… — Steven Pinker Copy Share Image
I've never argued that humans are massively hot-wired. What I was trying to point out was that you can't understand how we learn unless… — Steven Pinker Copy Share Image
As many political writers have pointed out, commitment to political equality is not an empirical claim that people are clones. — Steven Pinker Copy Share Image
Since violence is largely a male pastime, cultures that empower women tend to move away from the glorification of violence and are less likely… — Steven Pinker Copy Share Image
When it comes to explaining human thought and behavior, the possibility that heredity plays any role at all still has the power to shock.… — Steven Pinker Copy Share Image
Morality is not just any old topic in psychology but close to our conception of the meaning of life. Moral goodness is what gives… — Steven Pinker Copy Share Image
“The biblical story of the binding of Isaac shows that human sacrifice was far from unthinkable in the 1st millennium BCE. The Israelites boasted… — Steven Pinker Copy Share Image
Part of the bargain of being alive is that one takes a chance at dying a premature or painful death, be it from violence,… — Steven Pinker Copy Share Image
In fact, without a specification of a creature's goals, the very idea of intelligence is meaningless. A toadstool could be given a genius award… — Steven Pinker Copy Share Image
“The obvious cure for the tragic shortcomings of human intuition in a high-tech world is education. And this offers priorities for educational policy: to… — Steven Pinker Copy Share Image
