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Steven Pinker – Origins Symposium – The Cognitive Niche



TheScienceFoundation

http://www.thesciencenetwork.org

Steven Pinker is Harvard College Professor and Johnstone Family Professor in the Department of Psychology at Harvard University. Until 2003, he taught in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences at MIT. He conducts research on language and cognition, writes for publications such as the New York Times, Time, and Slate, and is the author of seven books, including The Language Instinct, How the Mind Works, Words and Rules, and The Blank Slate.

Books by Steven Pinker:

The Stuff of Thought, 2008

The Language Instinct, 2007

The Blank Slate, 2003

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28 thoughts on “Steven Pinker – Origins Symposium – The Cognitive Niche
  1. Mr Pinker is just another modern day sophist and his pseudo-explanations are a whole lot of hooey that befuddle other people by constructing false data and presenting them as a scientific fact that is seemingly irrefutable. Who is he really? Not a philosopher or a scientist but only a linguistic maven who uses rhetorical gimmicks to dismiss ideas that he does not like.

  2. @kevinscales I'm mad because at first I thought that "Pinker is the man" but as I started to study his works like "The Blank Slate", "Language Instinct", "Words and Rules", "The Stuff of Thought" and also watching additional lectures I thought WTF! He doesn't present any systematic theory, just random stories. Even though they're funny I must admit, they're worthless hogwash. He's just pulling the wool over our eyes with his title and the glitter of his appearance. Sorry, but that's not science!

  3. That was a great talk. It's a huge topic, and Pinker necessarily had to be brief, but he managed to outline the basics very well. Also, the last answer to the question was spot on – that's a major misunderstanding that needs to be clarified.

  4. @Ia Dude, you got me wrong. I don't hate this sweet 'super-man' as you call him, he's funny to watch that's why he's so popular on YouTube. But I was fed up with his purportedly scientific lingo. I know that I don't have equal authority as he, and I'm not even pretending that I can bring down this infallible Goliath of Scientific Achievement. You attack me on the basis that I dare to criticize Pinker, but what you're doing seems to me equally fallacious because you're appealing to his authority.

  5. @Iambecome C'mon dude. Stop your hissy fit and shut the F%* up! Enjoy your Pinker without calling other people names and just because someone disagrees with you it doesn't mean that he's a moron. Look who's talkin'!

  6. @pawsoned Listen up you idiot, because this is the last time I will address you: You haven't "disagreed" with me, or even Pinker, because you haven't the slightest clue what you're talking about. You prob up strawmen so absurd they're laughable. You are a joke, pawsoned, and you don't even realise it. Educate yourself before opening your mouth.

  7. @pawsoned:
    If you are looking for science than I suggest you stop "studying" the pop-sci presented for profit/entertainment in the books you mentioned and instead get into the grit of scientific articles. That he strings together a few scientific discoveries in story-fashion in his books =/= that they are also strung together in a storybook-fashion within a scientific theory. His books are not his science/research/contributions to theory.

  8. Ia agree that the name calling should stop, two wrongs don't make a right. However, I think you should recognize that your first comment was basically a critique against Pinker that used a liberal amount of name calling and negative language. Lambecome did the same to you but used harsher language. Sure, both you and Lambecome could argue that your words are precise but that does not discount their unnecessary vitriolic nature.

  9. I cannot believe this guy is still around. He makes so many OLD , conventional and uncrtical assumptions. I had to put his 1994 book away it was so full of intellectual jumps. and this believe that humans are smarter as he applies his ruler. He doe stihs a she has no real problm to solve

  10. What intellectual framework he has that allows him to question all his asumptions? Otherwise it is all dogma, putted in a square of jailed beliefs

  11. You confuse 2 issues. The "best" food is irrelevant here. In context, humans do/did hunt animals for food and that affected their survival and reproductive success, and hence also the evolution of cognitive capabilities that went along with such hunting.

    As to health, division into meat vs vegetable is rather arbitrary. E.g., chicken meat is far healthier than, say, a red baneberry (lethal), lupin bean (sickening), or ordinary potato (mildly toxic). Details matter, not general categories.

  12. dot ncbi dot nlm dot nih dot gov/pubmed/19562864

    here you go. there are a host of such studies. see this article and see its bib. you can also refer to the "Related citations in PubMed" link for even more corroborating studies.

  13. I am always amazed at the fact that these so called scientist make these appearances and the idiots that run the sound are too stupid to turn the sound volume up so you can hear the speakers. So much for science and technology, and dumb ass sound engineers.

  14. I am always amazed at the fact that these so called scientist make these appearances and the idiots that run the sound are too stupid to turn the sound volume up so you can hear the speakers. So much for science and technology, and dumb ass sound engineers.

  15. I have watched Krauss and all his appearances and it appears as though he entertains rather than informs. Probably very smart guy but I dont learn much.

  16. One thing that I have noticed that every scientist seems to agree on is the big bang theory and that the universe is expanding. This expanding proposition I find impossible. If the universe is expanding, what is it pushing out of the way that allows it to expand? I believe the vacum is infinite without a beginning or end, but the things in it (matter, energy (light), ) are expanding. Nothing can't have a beginning or an end. Try finding the beginning or an end to nothing, bet you can't! I'll bet you can't find the nothing either!Ha

  17. They call me swag diggy cus my nigga says he cuss a lot
    Roll tide negro does a lot of stuff but not enuff
    Toll taker, whole roll maker
    show me to the telephone, im gown call my nayba

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