Steven Pinker Would Like a Beer With You Friday, Nov 20 2009
images 10:07 pm
I doubt my fixation on Pinker will end anytime soon, because his book How the Mind Works was the single most illuminating work of cognitive science I’ve read, even though it was a popular work.
November 20th, 2009 at 10:53 pm
Cheers Steven! And may more illuminating works of any kind become popular works!
– Sean
November 20th, 2009 at 10:59 pm
I agree. Amazing book. His Ted.com talks are well worth watching too.
November 21st, 2009 at 12:45 am
As a linguist, I have got a soft spot for Pinker. And as far as “How the Mind Works” is concerned, I agree with you a 100%. Mind you, I literally “fought” my way through “The Stuff of Thought” recently. In the end, the fight was worth it ;)…
November 21st, 2009 at 10:43 am
Tell us about it (= Pinker’s book), Michael!
November 21st, 2009 at 12:14 pm
For those interested in linguistics, I recommend Phil Lieberman’s “Human Language and Our Reptilian Brain.” It gives a counterargument to the ideas elaborated in Pinker’s “Language Instinct.”
November 21st, 2009 at 2:54 pm
One of my favorite Pinker quotes is his conjecture that it possible to “express or understand an infinite number of distinct thoughts, limited in practice only by stamina and mortality.”
November 21st, 2009 at 3:45 pm
Michael, are you familiar with Jaak Panksepp’s work? If so, I’m curious to hear what you think about it, particularly his criticisms of evolutionary psychology.
November 21st, 2009 at 4:54 pm
Benjamin, I’m not, sorry.
November 21st, 2009 at 5:51 pm
You can read the aforementioned criticisms at the following site:
http://ntp.neuroscience.wisc.edu/students/student-art/panksepp6p108.pdf
The article was published in Evolution and Cognition 130 (2000, Vol. 6, No. 2).
If you like Pinker and the evolutionary psychology crowd, you owe it to yourself to become familiar with opposing views. Unfortunately, despite an invitation, Pinker himself has never responded to the Panksepps, though other evolutionary psychologists have.