The 30 best famous phrases of Steven Pinker

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 the 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 carved out by selection natural.

The most important phrases of Steven Pinker

In the following lines you can find some of the best Steven Pinker quotes.

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 closely related phenomena.

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 moves people.

Human beings form hypotheses on a daily basis, because the simple relationship with others invites us to want to understand their behavior and to anticipate it.

3. Contrary to popular belief, the gene-centric theory of evolution does not imply that the point of all human endeavor 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 the unconscious of people.

6. Life is a series of deadlines that expire

Life must be enjoyed at every moment, because we will not relive the past.

7. As people age, they mistake changes in themselves for changes in the world, and changes in the world with low morale; the illusion of old times

The elderly 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 executes, that makes us see, think, feel, choose and act. This special something is the information process or computing.

A quote from his book: "How the mind works: computation and evolution by natural selection"

9. News is about things that happen, never things that don't

The news that circulates aims to inform.

10. Since violence is largely a male pastime, cultures that allow women to move away from the hype of violence and are less likely to breed dangerous subcultures with youth uprooted

A reflection that invites the reader to think deeply.

11. Children acquire spoken language instinctively, but they learn written language only with the sweat of their brow, because spoken language has been a feature of human life for tens or hundreds of millennia, while writing was a recent invention and widely spread 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, not the players' inner monologue

Pinker finds a similarity between genes and play.

13. As technology accumulates and more people from all over the planet become interdependent, hate among them tends to decrease, for the simple reason that you cannot kill someone without killing the trade also

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 the people enjoy ornamentation, natural light and human scale, and has forced millions of people to live in gray concrete 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 solved in time, because the consequences can be negative if it is not done.

16. It is natural to think that living things must be the work of a designer. But it was also natural to think that the sun went 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 right for parents to beat, humiliate, deprive or abandon their children, because it is horrible for a big and strong person to do these things to a small and defenseless person.

Parents must be careful when punishing their children.

18. Whether teens smoke, run afoul of the law, or commit serious crimes depends much more on what their peers do than on what their parents do.

During adolescence, the weight of equals has a great weight in the behavior of adolescents.

19. The psychology of morality is multifaceted. There is no single answer as to where morality is in the brain

Morality is a social construction, as Steven Pinker makes clear with this phrase.

20. In each moment that 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

To be able to act it is necessary to have a good capacity for empathy.

22. Any ethnic group that has managed to reach today 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 each moment of sensitivity is a precious gift

An appointment that invites you 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 show 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

To think that the world will be a paradise in which everyone will respect each other and there will be no social classes is a utopia.

27. I do not 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 clean sweep.

29. I believe that the institutions that promote the search for truth, such as science, history and journalism, are aimed at strengthening to a great extent that muscle of reality

In the author's opinion, the search for the truth should be a primary value of people.

30. As technology accumulates and people from more parts of the planet become interdependent, the hatred between they tend to decrease, for the simple reason that you cannot kill someone and trade with them at the same time

Often times, the economy prevails over prejudice.