Steven Pinker (September 18, 1954) is a Canadian psychologist and writer, very popular today. In fact, a few months ago, he appeared on one of our lists as one of the 12 most influential psychologists today.
This exponent of evolutionary psychology has been interested in how our genetics predispose us towards certain behaviors for greater adaptation, and how language is a product of the evolution of our species shaped by natural selection.
1. Culture rests on neural circuitry that performs the feat we call “learning.”
Although he has focused on the importance of genetics, Pinker thinks that culture and learning are two phenomena that are closely related.
2. Everyone has a theory of human nature. We all have to anticipate the behavior of others, and that means we all need theories about what makes people tick.
Human beings form hypotheses daily, since the simple relationship with others invites us to want to understand their behavior and anticipate it.
3. Contrary to popular belief, the gene-centered theory of evolution does not imply that the point of all human effort is to spread our genes
A quote that refers to human evolution.
4. The mind is a neural computer
Neurons make up the human brain, and allow us to think, feel, experience emotions, etc.
5. The mind is not the brain but it is what the brain does; but not everything the brain does
A reflection on people’s unconscious.
6. Life is a series of deadlines that expire
Life must be enjoyed every moment, because we will not live the past again.
7. As people age, they confuse changes in themselves with changes in the world, and changes in the world with low morale; the illusion of old times
Old age can be a time of great reflection on what life is and has been.
8. The special status of the brain comes from something special that it performs, that makes us see, think, feel, choose and act. This something special is the processing of information, that is, computing.
A quote from his book: “How the Mind Works: Computation and Evolution by Natural Selection”
9. The news is about things that happen, never about things that don’t happen
The news that circulates is intended to inform.
10. Since violence is largely a male pastime, cultures that allow women to move away from glorifying violence and are less likely to breed dangerous subcultures with rootless youth
A reflection that invites the reader to think in depth.
11. Children acquire spoken language instinctively, but they learn writing only by the sweat of their brow, because spoken language has been a feature of human life for tens or hundreds of millennia, while writing was an invention. recent and spread very slowly
People learn to speak naturally, but we don’t write well until we go to school.
12. Genes are like a game within a game, and not the internal monologue of the players
Pinker finds a similarity between genes and gambling.
13. As technology accumulates and more people from all over the planet become interdependent, hatred between them tends to decrease, for the simple reason that you can’t kill someone without killing commerce too.
There is a relationship between the advancement of new technologies and capitalism.
14. The belief that human tastes are nothing more than reversible cultural preferences has led social planners to prevent people from enjoying ornamentation, natural light, and human scale, and has forced millions of people to live in gray cement boxes
A word that criticizes people who are passive towards cultural influence.
15. Solving a problem even within a hundred years is, for practical purposes, the same as never solving it.
Problems must be resolved at the time, because the consequences can be negative if not done.
16. It is natural to think that living beings must be the work of a designer. But it was also natural to think that the sun set around the earth. Overcoming naive impressions to find out how things really work is one of humanity’s highest callings.
People should not be perfectionists, because it negatively influences our well-being.
17. It is not okay for parents to hit, humiliate, deprive or abandon their children, because it is horrible for a big and strong person to do these things to another small and defenseless person.
Parents should be careful when punishing their children.
18. Whether teenagers smoke, have run-ins with the law, or commit serious crimes depends much more on what their peers do than on what their parents do.
During adolescence, the influence of peers has a great influence on the behavior of adolescents.
19. The psychology of morality is multifaceted. There is no single answer to where morality is located in the brain.
Morality is a social construction, as Steven Pinker makes clear with this phrase.
20. In every moment we choose, consciously or unconsciously, between good things for now and better things for later
People usually have expectations of a better future, it is what keeps us motivated.
21. Fiction is the technology of empathy
In order to act, it is necessary to have a good capacity for empathy.
22. Any ethnic group that has survived to this day probably had aggressive ancestors in the not-too-distant past.
Human beings have not evolved simply by preferring peace to war.
23. Nothing offers life more meaning than the realization that every moment of sensitivity is a precious gift
A quote that invites us to ask questions about human existence.
24. The romantic idea that all evil is a product of society has justified the release of dangerous psychopaths who immediately murdered innocent people
Some social psychologists claim that being good or bad depends on the situation. Something that, according to Pinker, should be taken with a grain of salt.
25. Our visual systems can play tricks, and it is enough to demonstrate that they are instruments of untruth
The result of what we see is not reality, but our reality.
26. We will never have a perfect world, but it is not romantic or naive to work for a better one.
Thinking that the world will be a paradise in which everyone will respect each other and social classes will not exist is a utopia.
27. I don’t believe that evolution designed us to reproduce but to enjoy sex and love children.
A Pinker opinion on sex and reproduction.
28. A newborn is not a blank sheet
Pinker thinks that when we are born we are not a tabula rasa.
29. I believe that the institutions that promote the search for truth, such as science, history and journalism, are aimed at strengthening this muscle of reality to a large extent.
In the author’s opinion, the search for truth should be a primary value of people.
30. As technology accumulates and people from more parts of the planet become interdependent, hatred between them tends to decrease, for the simple reason that you cannot kill someone and trade with them at the same time.
