But in most cases even the possibility that the correlations reflect shared genes is taboo. — Steven Pinker Copy Share Image
Heritability pertains to the entirety of the genome, not to a single gene. — Steven Pinker Copy Share Image
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… — Steven Pinker Copy Share Image
Parents provide their children with genes as well as an environment, so the fact that talkative parents have kids with good language… — Steven Pinker Copy Share Image
Genetically influenced behavior is not necessarily good and not necessarily unchangeable. Explanations of bad behavior that appeal to genes do not absolve… — Steven Pinker Copy Share Image
But the 20th century suffered "two" ideologies that led to genocides. The other one, Marxism, had no use for race, didn't believe… — Steven Pinker Copy Share Image
The brain is not a bag of traits. It's startlingly complex. There are few or no single genes with a consistent effect… — Steven Pinker Copy Share Image
Obviously no language is innate. Take any kid from any race, bring them up in any culture and they will learn the… — Steven Pinker Copy Share Image
Genes are a play within a play, not the interior monologue of the players. — Steven Pinker Copy Share Image
Evolutionary psychologists seem to want to unmask our noblest motives as ultimately self-interested - to show that our love for children, compassion… — Steven Pinker Copy Share Image
Of course, genes can't pull the levers of our behavior directly. But they affect the wiring and workings of the brain, and… — Steven Pinker Copy Share Image
Of course genes can’t pull the levers of our behavior directly. But they affect the wiring and workings of the brain, and… — 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
There's a common criticism of evolutionary psychology that it's fatalistic and it dooms us to eternal strife, 'Why even try to work… — Steven Pinker Copy Share Image
The problem with the emotions is not that they are untamed forces or vestiges of our animal past; it is that they… — Steven Pinker Copy Share Image
No one knows what the nongenetic causes of individuality are. Perhaps people are shaped by modifications of genes that take place after… — 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
