“The essence of a culture of honor is that it does not sanction predatory or instrumental violence, but only retaliation after an… — Steven Pinker Copy Share Image
“Hobbes's analysis of the causes of violence, borne out by modern data on crime and war, shows that violence is not a… — Steven Pinker Copy Share Image
In many Muslim countries, witchcraft is not only on the books as a crime, but is commonly prosecuted. In 2009, for example,… — Steven Pinker Copy Share Image
All of the violence that doesn't occur doesn't get reported on the news. — Steven Pinker Copy Share Image
For all the tribulations in our lives, for all the troubles that remain in the world, the decline of violence is an… — Steven Pinker Copy Share Image
If crime is going down, you shouldn't be increasing resources for crime prevention. Or you should be taking note of what has… — Steven Pinker Copy Share Image
“The one great universal in the study of violence is that most of it is committed by fifteen-to-thirty-year-old men.” — Steven Pinker Copy Share Image
“So holding many factors constant, we find that living in a civilization reduces one’s chances of being a victim of violence fivefold.” — Steven Pinker Copy Share Image
“Self-control has been credited with one of the greatest reductions of violence in history, the thirtyfold drop in homicide between medieval and… — 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
