If we are not to abandon values such as peace and equality, or our commitments to science and truth, then we must pry these values away from claims about our psychological makeup that are vulnerable to being proven false. Steven Pinker More Quotes by Steven Pinker More Quotes From Steven Pinker Consistent style prevents presentation from getting in the way of content. Steven Pinker consistentstyleway Why are empirical questions about how the mind works so weighted down with political and moral and emotional baggage? Steven Pinker emotionalpoliticalmind The foundation of individual rights is the assumption that people have wants and needs and are authorities on what those wants and needs are. If people's stated desires were just some kind of erasable inscription or reprogrammable brainwashing, any atrocity could be justified. Steven Pinker rightsdesirepeople I have never been a fan of science fiction. For me, fiction has to explore the combinatorial possibilities of people interacting under the constraints imposed by our biology and history. When an author is free to suspend the constraints, it's tennis without a net. Steven Pinker tennisfanspeople My opinions about human nature are shared by many psychologists, linguists, and biologists, not to mention philosophers and scholars going back centuries. Steven Pinker philosopherhuman-natureopinion Natural selection is not the only process that changes organisms over time. But is the only process that seemingly designs organisms over time. Steven Pinker designevolutionnatural Academics lack perspective. In a debate on whether the world is round, they would argue, 'No,' because it's an oblate spheroid. They suffer from 'the curse of knowledge': the inability to imagine what it's like not to know something that they know. Steven Pinker inabilityperspectivesuffering However much we might deplore the profit motive, or consumerist values, if everyone just wants i-Pods we would probably be better off than if they wanted class revolution. Steven Pinker wantclassmight Unfortunately, creative people are at their most creative when writing their autobiographies. Steven Pinker creativewritingpeople According to a recent study of the brains of identical and fraternal twins, differences in the amount of gray matter in the frontal lobes are not only genetically influenced but are significantly correlated with differences in intelligence. Steven Pinker gray-matterdifferencesbrain In any dispute, each side thinks it's in the right and the other side is demons. Steven Pinker demonsidesthinking The typical imperative from biology is not "Thou shalt... ," but "If ... then ... else. Steven Pinker if-thenbiologytypical The elegant study... is consistent with the themes of modern cognitive neuroscience . Every aspect of thought and emotion is rooted in brain structure and function, including many psychological disorders and, presumably, genius. The study confirms that the brain is a modular system comprising multiple intelligences, mostly nonverbal. Steven Pinker psychological-disordersgeniusbrain The human capacity for compassion is not a reflex that is triggered automatically by the presence of another living thing. Steven Pinker reflexescompassioncapacity I don't think aggression works like thirst or sleep. I think aggression is more elicited by particular situations. I think it can be mitigated. Steven Pinker situationsleepthinking Parents provide their children with genes as well as an environment, so the fact that talkative parents have kids with good language skills could simply mean that and that the same genes that make parents talkative make children articulate. Steven Pinker meankidschildren Many artists and scholars have pointed out that ultimately art depends on human nature. Steven Pinker scholarhuman-natureart You wouldn't believe the kind of hate mail I get about my work on irregular verbs. Steven Pinker verbshatebelieve I never outgrew my conversion to atheism at 13, but at various times was a serious cultural Jew. Steven Pinker jewatheismserious Language mavens commonly confuse their own peeves with a worsening of the language. Steven Pinker peevesmavenslanguage
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