People
Steven Pinker

Steven Pinker photo

Steven Pinker Quotes

Total quotes: 5

Steven Pinker photo

Steven Pinker

Birthname

Birthday: September 18, 1954

Educated At: McGill University, Dawson College, Harvard University

Nationality: United States Of America

Occupations: Linguist, University Teacher, Psychologist, Anthropologist, Philosopher

Religion: Atheism

Spouse: Rebecca Goldstein

Total quotes: 5

“In any dispute, each side thinks it’s in the right and the other side is demons.”

— Steven Pinker, via The New York Times

Tagged: Violence, arguments, humanity

“When we know something well, we don't realize how abstractly we think about it. And we forget that other people, who have lived their own lives, have not gone through our idiosyncratic histories of abstractification.”

— Steven Pinker, The Sense of Style: The Thinking Person's Guide to Writing in the 21st Century

Tagged: Abstractification, Curse of Knowledge, Personal History

“Writers acquire their technique by spotting, savoring, and reverse-engineering examples of good prose.”

— Steven Pinker, The Sense of Style: The Thinking Person's Guide to Writing in the 21st Century

Tagged: Prose, Writing

“What is your favorite deep, elegant or beautiful explanation?”

— Steven Pinker, John Brockman, 2012: Edge Foundation Annual Question

Tagged: List of Edge Foundation's Annual Questions, Interesting Questions

“Fiction may be, at least in part, a pleasure technology, a co-opting of language and imagery as a virtual reality device which allows a reader to enjoy pleasant hallucinations like exploring interesting territories, conquering enemies, hobnobbing with powerful people, and winning attractive mates. Fiction, moreover, can tickle people's fancies without even having to project them into a thrilling vicarious experience.”

— Steven Pinker, Harvard.edu

Tagged: fiction, Reading, Virtuality

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