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Quote by Steven Pinker

“Terrorist bombings, like rampage shootings, are events that maximize the amount of publicity per amount of damage. That's why people do them, because they know they will set off a media frenzy.”

Quote by Steven Pinker

Author

Steven Pinker is a renowned cognitive psychologist, linguist, and author. His research focuses on language, cognition, and human behavior, particularly the relationship between language and thought. Pinker is known for his in-depth research on the evolution of language and his contributions to the field of cognitive science. more

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“The connections I draw between human nature and political systems in my new book, for example, were prefigured in the debates during the Enlightenment and during the framing of the American Constitution.”

Humans Book Political Human Nature Example Draws Enlightenment Connections Constitution Debate Political Systems New Books Framing American Constitution

Author:Steven Pinker

“The European wars of religion were more deadly than the First World War, proportionally speaking, and in the range of the Second World War in Europe. The Inquisition, the persecution of heretics and infidels and witches, they racked up pretty high death tolls.”

World Firsts War Europe Range War Of The Worlds Witch Persecution Second World War Heretic Tolls Inquisition Infidel First World War

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“The reason I'm not a neurobiologist but a cognitive psychologist is that I think looking at brain tissue is often the wrong level of analysis. You have to look at a higher level of organization.”

Thinking Looks Reason Levels Brain Higher Organization Analysis Psychologist Cognitive Tissues Higher Level

Author:Steven Pinker

“The reason the United States is not so likely to invade Iran is precisely because of the lessons learned from Iraq. And conversely, the Iranian push towards nuclear capability is calculated to deter invasions like the kind deposing Saddam Husain.”

Kind States Reason United United States Lessons Iraq Nuclear Iran Capability Saddam Invasion Iranian Lesson Learned

Author:Steven Pinker

“The stirrings of morality emerge early in childhood. Toddlers spontaneously offer toys and help to others and try to comfort people they see in distress.”

People Trying Helping Childhood Morality Comfort Offers Ethics Toys Distress Stirring Toddler

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“The strongest argument against totalitarianism may be a recognition of a universal human nature; that all humans have innate desires for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The doctrine of the blank slate... is a totalitarian's dream.”

“There is no society ever discovered in the remotest corner of the world that has not had something that we would consider the arts. Visual arts - decoration of surfaces and bodies - appears to be a human universal.”

World Humans Art Body Universal Corners Surface Visuals Decoration Visual Art Corners Of The World

Author:Steven Pinker

“There's a misconception that survival of the fittest means survival of the most aggressive. The adjective 'Darwinian' used to refer to ruthless competition; you used to read that in business journals. But that's not what Darwinian means to a biologist; it's whatever leads to reproductive success.”

Mean Used Survival Competition Aggressive Journal Ruthless Misconception Adjectives Biologist Survival Of The Fittest

Author:Steven Pinker

“There's guilt about our treatment of native peoples in modern intellectual life, and an unwillingness to acknowledge there could be anything good about Western culture.”

Culture Modern Intellectual Guilt Western Acknowledge Native Treatment Western Culture Intellectual Life

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“Though knowledge itself increasingly ignores boundaries between fields, professors are apt to organize their pedagogy around the methods and history of their academic subculture rather than some coherent topic in the world.”

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Author:Steven Pinker