Steven Pinker: They're trying to cancel me

[@LinusFeynstein]

I quit Twitter. It is a big relief. Less noise in my life. Less insults. Less echo chambers.

[@kevinf9822]

Good move. I still have an account but rarely visit. It is a high school food fight.

[@GOffUnit]

It's not so bad if you don't engage with anyone. Just follow what the smart/interesting/important people are saying and it's a good time.

[@ns2110theonly]

Linus 6626 Feynstein KZbin is worse plus no word cap. We are here🤷🏻‍♀️

[@ns2110theonly]

GOffUnit that’s true. I have an uber intellectual friend who gets all his news from Twitter, as he just follows some intellectuals he likes and news, and he’s all good. He keeps telling me my problem is I get upset & start engaging; I need to avoid that; take what news I need and move on.

[@LinusFeynstein]

@@ns2110theonly so true. I have to look in the mirror. I am starting to hate (anti-) social media

[@AriZBlade]

Imagine being someone who thinks Steven Pinker is a bigot. It's beyond belief.

[@antiheiderggarianleague.1899]

No, but he is an idiot.

[@philovon]

@@antiheiderggarianleague.1899 Why?

[@marynadononeill]

This is all getting way out of hand! How and when can we fight back for free speech?!

[@xmalcom650]

Anti Heiderggarian League. If he really was you would have given reasons why.

[@antiheiderggarianleague.1899]

@@philovon Generally, I have a problem with his politics, which are neoliberal. If anything is empirically evident is the fact that neoliberalism is a failed ideology. Further, he like sam harris like to boil things down to neurons particularly language. When there several other factors, that contribute to the thought structure that produces language.

[@sugarfree1894]

"If I am not agreed with I feel unsafe, and your disagreement with me is an act of aggression towards me" This is insanity. Like toddlers.

[@ottam]

The thing is that the ability to articulate one's vulnerability to contrary ideas usually arises at a time in life when one has outgrown the feelings themselves.

[@aaronsmyth7943]

They're not being genuine, punch them in the face.

[@ns2110theonly]

Aaron Smyth in their confused minds, they are being genuine. That’s the problem. Their fanatic sense of justice, (virtual signaling defined) blinds them to both reason and intelligent debate. Agree with Pinker or not, that’s essentially what he saying and he’s right of course. Because we’re not talking about Syria here; we’re talking about a free open society-The bedrock of which is the freedom of speech even if it makes snowflakes uncomfortable. The only thing not permissible is speechincitinv others to violence and the like, but going after innocent people, getting them fired from their jobs because unhinged snowflakes feel offended by total strangers - in their dorms & moms basements - doesn’t have anything whatsoever to do with free speech, just insanity. Edited, due to an interesting autocorrect error, which understood “Pinker” as “pinkeye”😂

[@aaronsmyth7943]

@@ns2110theonly The communication and narcissistic victim tactics are mainly performative in nature, IMO not authentic and not genuine. Most of them don't understand what they are even doing, most of them are INCAPABLE of understanding what they are doing, but they are declaring war on white males as a consequence, hence a punch in the face is warranted from my perspective.

[@sciencemusic2252]

The real plot is to enslave us all by consent

[@patrick5729]

The fact that people immediately tried to cancel the letter proves that cancel culture is real.

[@therabitoshowrules]

If it wasn't it would've been ignored

[@ns2110theonly]

Indeed.

[@paolopagliaro980]

Are we still talking about the reality or not reality of cancel culture? Good night.

[@malvolio01]

We all knew it was real.

[@fineartlifestyling]

Cancel culture is censorship and this is how authoritarian regimes get their start.

[@macclift9956]

"When you tear out a man's tongue, you are not proving him a liar, you're only telling the world that you fear what he might say." - R. R. Martin

[@BaronVonBlair]

Christopher Hitchens would have been absolutely crushing right now

[@kelrogers8480]

You should see what his conservative, common-sense, brilliant, brother, Peter has to go through!

[@kelrogers8480]

@Kwarkool I enjoy Peter, his brother. I think he's brilliant. So did Christopher. Cheers.

[@katiegoetz]

Carlin, too.

[@axelphilippson402]

He‘d be cancelled in seconds

[@ns2110theonly]

Katie Goetz they’d be killing him all over again via actual physical lynch mob.

[@dontvoteforanybody3715]

20:23 vs. 20:41 - This is just crazy talk. The President of the United States does not advocate any notion of racial superiority. His slogan is, "Make America Great Again," not "Make Whites Supreme Again." His record at lifting visible minorities out of poverty, through lowering unemployment, is vastly better than that of his predecessor. He probably has more support among Hispanics and blacks in America than any Republican President in living memory. One of the main reasons he got elected is that he doesn't pander to the identity politics of the progressives. It is really disheartening to see Pinker, one of my intellectual heroes, talk so shallowly about practical politics. He needs to listen to Candice Owens a bit more closely.

[@exysness]

I picked up on it too and it left me baffled. I find it hard to collect evidence forTrump being alt-right, somebody feel free to correct me.

[@lolcat5303]

People believe a lot of nonsense about Trump. Even otherwise respectable people, like Sowell or, apparently, Pinker.

[@saintejeannedarc9460]

@@lolcat5303 Sowell doesn't trash Trump though, he just doesn't agree w/ him on all matters, and I believe he didn't vote for him.

[@pedroheberle6665]

So unless he endorses neonazis and says "I suspect blacks" - which, mind you, he did - it's not racism? How come you do NOT see bigotry in Trump, I ask you? This talk of identity politics being a thing of the left is just talk. It is the far-right - Trump's far-right - which has historically in America made an issue of identity, with their support of Jim Crow, suppression of voting rights, and civil rights, and mass incarceration of black people, and physical segregation of Latinos, Arab Americans and so many others, while not having the guts to even talk about it.

[@saintejeannedarc9460]

@@pedroheberle6665 Oh my, you're the last to know it seems, that it was the so called democratic left that instilled jim crow, voted against emancipation, and even took away the voting rights of blacks, after the Republicans had been in power and granted the beginnings of voting rights for blacks. Furthermore, you make no sense whatsoever when you declare that Trump is racist, that the right is all racist, you just know it, somehow, even though you admit they don't talk that way. Supposedly, their racism is unspoken and that makes them cowards. Doesn't seem to occur to your marxism addled mind that maybe what you hear is what you get. Listen bud, here's some words to live by: "From the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks". It never fails, people can only stifle what's really in their mind for so long, it always comes out.

[@exbladex99]

The cancel culture. The lack of humor. The purity spirals. Their lack of taste and obsession with uniformity. The inquisition and crusades they do to purify offensiveness are all going to backfire on them.

[@exbladex99]

@whatajoke333 you're going to have to prove it. Donald doesn't sound like he likes Jews.

[@jayo9191]

In what way and when do you see their actions, words and ideology backfiring? Have you studied how this typically unfolds?

[@forbesfoofighters]

It’s already backfiring on Steven Pinker, as he has tried to do this same thing to other, more honest academics than himself

[@odette8905]

There is an extremely sinister power grab going on here. We won't stand for it.

[@frankmanning3815]

But we are.

[@lettersquash]

You could mean anything. Power grab by the id-pol snowflakes? Or power grab by the Kochtopus? One's an empirical fact.

[@Seekthetruth3000]

Trump is the only one standing up to them.

[@gavin4848]

@@Seekthetruth3000 John Cleese too.

[@ernestscuttle9139]

@@Seekthetruth3000 lol, sure

[@jessicastrat9376]

I love how you don’t waste time on intros and getting to know your guests. This makes a lot more use out of the limited time.

[@seanmoran6510]

The fact that Steven is surprised there are attempts to cancel him exposes a big liberal blind spot 🤷‍♂️

[@argh2945]

Tbh he was probably okay with the initial cancellations over the years because the people being cancelled and deplatformed then were on the fringes or relatively unknown. Now that it's him and his social strata in the firing line he's perked right up.

[@JRobbySh]

Has he blotted out his knowledge of the history of the French Revolution?

[@roundedges2]

The line between “live and let live” and “live and allow to destroy me” can be diffucult for liberals to see, unfortunately

[@maulwurfchenfischerartists]

Surprising, given that in his 2002 book "The Blank Slate" he gave a very sobering and brutal account of the history and intellectual roots of left wing cancel culture and other left wing dogmata. One couldn't accuse him of having a blindspot in this regard.

[@iamjurell]

@Federick Davidson 'They are trying to cancel me' is the title, hundreds of people signed a letter attempting to cancel him. The title isn't 'I have been cancelled.' Where is the inaccuracy? Hundreds of people *tried* (and are still trying) to *cancel* him. Similarly, if you listen to what he says and has written for decades, he doesn't have to be worried about his own personal position as of right now to be concerned about the general prevailing trend - nor does it seem that he precludes himself totally from risk, but that's not the point. It's precisely BECAUSE he is in a position of relative security that he is able to say these things.

[@juancpgo]

Defund the thought police.

[@sbeerman1919]

Put that on a t shirt

[@paulhue86]

I don’t know who you are, or if you invented that phrase, but I’ll be running with it!

[@jackarnon5483]

Nice thought. It belongs on a bumper sticker.

[@Humanaut.]

Can we take a moment to honor the host`? I rarely if ever see such a good hosts as Freddie Sayers.

[@hinteregions]

I thought he did pretty poorly this time around. Some of those questions were downright silly, made me think he didn't know who he was talking to. But I've seen him elsewhere and thought him pretty reasonable so hurrah for Freddie Sayers.

[@rocketpig1914]

@@hinteregions Which questions didn't you like?

[@hinteregions]

@@rocketpig1914 It was the framing of the questions. Just for example, at the end, his 'summing up' in which he parroted that nonsense about 'ultimate optimist.' Which questions did you like?

[@rocketpig1914]

@@hinteregions Yeah I guess that was a bit of a lame point to make. I did like his question though on whether postmodernist thought may actually have some roots in the Enlightenment's emphasis on rationality. That's certainly not the typical way of looking at these things. It was too radical a thought for Pinker anyway, who didn't really engage with the point. But it's given me something to think about even if Pinker wasn't interested :)

[@hinteregions]

@@rocketpig1914 It made me think our host really didn't know much about his guest. I think Stephen Pinker did a brilliant job of not getting cross at the silly characterisation, he's good that way XD

[@baxrok2.]

"...offense archaeology..." & "...some of the crazies then got tenure and educated the subsequent generations." Excellent interview. Thanks!

[@wendycarter2304]

Precisely! 👏🏻☺️

[@orclover2353]

do you know how little impact a professor has in our current world? They might teach 1000 kids their ideology in 30 years...fox news educates 10 million people in a single day. Sure there is ego and normal evil human behavior involved in the university system, there is protectionism and group think...but it is such a small problem...this dork needs to take on real issues because gawd forbid an army of heavily armed trans soldiers might attack people in our nation's capital while our qudrasext president walks on his/her/izs tentacles to a church and spouts the feminist manifesto....

[@asdasdwinner]

all Nazis despise higher education, discourse, criticism and thought. You are no exception. Thanks!

[@kondasixtytoo487]

My two favourite comments from Pinker, and maybe “dog whistles”, too

[@machtnichtsseimann]

@@orclover2353 If only the world operated on mere Groupthink and "normal evil human behavior" ( ? lol ? ) in college then fizzling out upon graduation, but that's not Reality. On a more complex level of assessment, consider the "1000" multiplied by the hundreds ( ? ) of professors of such Leftism/Marxism/Post-Mondernism/Identitarian Tribalism across the nation multiplied by generations. Proceeding forward, such "alumni" then infect Society via the Media and their communities and city councils while sprinkling ad nauseum intimidation tactics along the lines of Cancel/Violence/Death Threats/Lawsuits. Therefore, a "small, loud, tiny minority" ( as Liberals and Progressives have surmised in interviews ) is causing a lot of disruptions right now, but it might actually be a majority involving those who are complicit.

[@paulantonio740]

One day in the near future, I hope that people look back at this period, like Americans did after the McCarthy era, and say, "What the hell were we thinking?" I like Steven Pinker's comments on the word "unsafe," as in, "I feel unsafe when I hear statements I disagree with." Absolutely spot on, professor. Another great interview from UnHerd, which has become the gold standard for commentary & ideas.

[@WayneLynch69]

YEAH! AS IN Joseph Welch's two hour NAKED taunting, gay-baiting of Roy Cohn (it is immediately accessible). FOLLOWED by Joe McCarthy stepping in and responding SPECIFICALLY ON-POINT to Welch's faux, entirely contrived demand of Cohn that he "not wait even one minute without informing this committee of any communists he discovers in government". WELLL...MCCARTHY TOOK HIM UP ON IT: "in your very firm is Fred Fisher, named by the FBI & House Un-American Committee as belonging to an active shadow group defending the CPUSA". YET EVEN TODAY, FOOLS CONTINUE TO IMAGINE WELCH PREVAILED, DESPITE MCCARTHY NAMING!! THE EXACT COMMUNIST WELCH DEMANDED!! IN WELCH'S OWN LAW FIRM!!!! "ONE DAY IN THE FUTURE".....DON'T HOLD YOUR BREATH....AT LEAST AS REGARDS OTHER THAN PINKLIBS....

[@rijamor]

Twitter users used to be the irritant in your local pub on a friday night who liked the sound of their own voice. That irritant now has a global platform. Get rid of it....and them.

[@PK-re3lu]

So true :)

[@argh2945]

This is very true. The power that some Twitter users have at their finger tips is frightening. They can get people fired, destroy careers and reputations over sometimes obscure charges, and tank (small and large) business. All this with little to no accountability.

[@reneahn5908]

It is especially worrying that one can start a witch hunt with impunity. It is a general principle that an effort to do harm should be punished, but apparently you can just accuse someone on twitter without being investigated yourself. That's bad. Also in our society the idea is that punishment can only be meted out by the courts. Lynchings and other forms of folk justice are to be stopped.

[@PK-re3lu]

@@reneahn5908 Great point. One could say something similar about metoo :(

[@opinionday0079]

Very Democratic of you. Ironic when you consider this video is about Cancel Culture.

[@Infektedshroom]

The book The Blank Slate changed the course of my life, I had a naive view point with a heavy dose of paternalism. That book set me free. Thank you Professor Pinker.

[@maulwurfchenfischerartists]

Yes, for all those accusing him of having a left wing blindspot, they should explore his work of DECADES which belie this fact.

[@matthewalan59]

My first encounter with Pinker was also The Blank Slate. I read it cover to cover. My favorite though is How the Mind Works. I think it is Pinker's favorite as well.

[@barrowmeoct04]

Would you recommend that as a first book to read for someone who hasn't read Pinker before? I'm thinking of getting my toes wet since he has piqued my curiosity.

[@baigandinel7956]

And still they say that, while for transgendered individuals, gender stereotypes are somehow very much inborn and fixed.

[@listener523]

@@barrowmeoct04 Yes. I've only read 3 of his books but that is the best place to start.

[@mazyzazie4048]

A key phrase from the interviewer was 'Joseph McCarthy'. The wokists, being devoid of history except in caricature, would be innocent of this period and its witch-hunts.

[@insontibus]

Except it has come to light that McCarthy was right; in fact, the communist infiltration of the State Department was far worse than McCarthy ever suspected, and is why China was able to enjoy such a meteoric rise during the last century. You know who teaches you about the terror of McCarthy? Government schools...

[@gustavgans9082]

McCarthy did nothing wrong. Communism won the cold war, regardless of one of it's host nations dying.

[@fisharepeopletoo9653]

@@insontibus Well that's just not true. But hey you know what else government school teaches to its students? Everything, that's like the point of school dog. If you don't learn about Mccarthy anywhere than at public school then you weren't interested enough to dig further. Who else is supposed to teach you? Go figure it out yourself. Or maybes nit, actually, because then you come and make comments like this. Go try again

[@gustavgans9082]

@rxp56 You're sure? The US is in the process of dying and communist China is ready to take its spot any moment.

[@mr2981]

I think they're thinking of Jenny McCarthy, if they're thinking of anything at all.

[@user-pr5tx9ep4m]

The "woke" movement is also xenophobic in that they are against those who are not them. The distinction is ideological instead of national or ethnic. Everyone has "their people."

[@sentinel-y8l]

It is called tribalism

[@frankmanning3815]

The woke movement is a malignancy. A seeping pustule on the ass of this country and it will spread if we don't excise it.

[@e1ementZero]

@@frankmanning3815 Nah, it's an expression of very real, very painful, human experiences, doing the very best they can with what they have to create positive change in the world. Of course every movement will have it's "shadow" side and attract those that go too far with it or abuse it.

[@frankmanning3815]

@@e1ementZero If, by creating a positive change in the world, you mean creating a socialist utopia without concern for the people who have to be exterminated along the way, then I agree with you.

[@e1ementZero]

@@frankmanning3815 Sure if by "woke movement" you mean an ideology who's only aim is creating a socialist utopia without concern for the people who have to be exterminated along the way, then I agree with you. I just think that vastly oversimplifies things and misses the human element of what a movement is. Most people don't even know what exactly they want, they just know that what they have isn't working. I would argue that "movements" can change shape and direction. But perhaps this is an unconventional representation of the term "movement".

[@ritakennedy9295]

Dear Dr Pinker I have read many of your books through the years and they have contributed greatly to my understanding of the world. You are an outstanding scholar.

[@ThePtoleme]

Obviously, Dr Pinker is clueless.

[@AANasseh]

@@ThePtoleme Apparently you're clueless unless you are willing to clarify why he is.

[@BB-tx7tq]

@@AANasseh hes very smart on some issues of which he studies but clueless about some very on the street realities that he is sheltered from in his ivory tower of intellectualism.

[@AANasseh]

Brandon Edwards fair enough, but can you be more specific about what realities he’s unable to see from his ivory tower?

[@aaronfrank9649]

Who are the right wing people that he is implying are racist? I believe the “ right wing “ people who are conservative and nationalistic are not inherently racist. Sure, some might be, but I believe they are a minority.

[@DWHalse]

Human nature as it is gives us couple of bad eggs all the time. America is just not racist, notwithstanding Obama's and BLM's attempts to take us there!

[@roundedges2]

Exactly what I said. They are trying to denigrate ordinary patriotism by painting it with an “ethnic” (meaning “racist”) brush, but with no legitimate basis for insinuating that at all.

[@ecyranot]

But one of them is in the White House. And if you say Trump is not racist, then I don't know what you're talking about . . . and neither do you.

[@DWHalse]

@Quentin Daffodil Well Quentin, your posits in this post made this silly old Americans day. Adroit, well written and hilarious! Your use of my favorite word from the American Profanity Dictionary put a cherry on top. Well done my English cousin! Oops, Sorry, we are being so ridiculous, you probably don't want to be related at all? Yea I know...

[@DWHalse]

@@roundedges2 Uncle Joe defined things for us...”We care about truth, not facts”. Poor Joe and should the impossible happen, poor America.

[@markhammer643]

Steve and I graduated from the same program in the same department in the same year. I don't know for certain that we were in the same classes, but the odds are pretty good. I don't always agree with him on everything, but he makes some good points now and again. Certainly, when we were both undergraduates, the spirit of dissent was alive and well, and I concur with his description of it. But what has happened in the intervening 45 years? I like to point to the emergence of what I refer to as the "adolocentric culture". Not that there wasn't any youth culture when we were both younger, but it wasn't valued quite as much. In the years since we left McGill, youth employment in the service sector mushroomed. With that came large amounts of disposable cash for teens and young adults, making them an economic force to be reckoned with. As I like to say, if nobody between the ages of 15 and 21 had a nickel to spend tomorrow, the economy would collapse. The result was that everything that "mattered" to youth became ever more important. And one of the things that matters to young adults is being passionate about causes; especially treating the way something makes you *feel* as a logical justification for why it is inherently good or inherently bad. Those people in the youth age bracket in the late '70s and early '80s are now in their late '50s and early-to-mid '60s. One *might* expect them to become more sedate and reasonable as they entered mid-life, but the entrenchment of adolescent mindsets in the culture (again, because the economic power of youth leads us to value what is important from their perspective) has vaunted passion over reason even among those who ought to be more dispassionate in their thinking. As Margaret Mead noted many decades back, when a culture changes rapidly, the people we tend to turn to for important information are note those with the most experience in it - the elderly - but rather those with the most *recent* experience with it - the young - what Mead termed a "prefigurative culture". So, well beyond the economic clout of youth, the rapid pace of cultural and technological change over the past 40 years continued to drive adults who might have traditionally "grown up" to turn to youth as their role models. Ricky Nelson used to try and dress like Ozzie & Harriet, but now Ozzie & Harriet try to be just like Ricky. And one of the things that even middle-aged folks, in addition to those in their 20s, 30s, and 40s, think is important, is acting on your feelings. If something makes you feel good, it's the BEST. And if it makes you even the tiniest bit angry or disappointed, it's the WORST. Steve has become a victim of a generation that grew up thinking they didn't have to grow up. Indeed, the same sorts of folks who embody "cancel culture" often react to government policies - even those meant to help or protect them - with an easily imagined door slam, "I hate you!", and "You're not the boss of me!!". Whether they're blocking an on-campus speaker, or wielding automatic rifles in the Michigan legislature, they're all convinced that growing up is unnecessary. And lest this be misinterpreted, it does NOT mean one shouldn't disagree vehemently, or that one's perspective is inherently wrong - even "good guys" have bonehead ideas once in a while - but it does mean you don't treat your disagreement as a justification for blotting someone out, whether the someone is a Harvard prof or a Central American trying to escape paramilitary violence. Discuss. And Steve, if you're out there, pop me a note.

[@SkepticalTeacher]

I'm 40 and have been saying the same thing for a long time, that the Millenials to me are like teenagers that have never grown up. The obsession with identity, and for a generation that has grown up with social media, the need for constant likes and affirmations, and hypersensitivity to criticism, doesn't surprise me. They've been told that anyone disagreeing with them is "violence", they've never been allowed to win or lose anything... they have a completely warped idea of the real world.

[@markhammer643]

@@SkepticalTeacher Well, I wouldn't put the blame on millenials in particular. And I wouldn't sum it up with a "Boy, kids today!", because I find people in their 40s and 50s with similar attitudes. Like I say, the change started happening to anyone whose later adolescence occurred from about 1977 on.

[@jovmirija6175]

@@SkepticalTeacher long story short: disgusting snowflakes.

[@michelleyb8536]

@Mark Hammer: one of the best comments on YT. It's like living in the sequel to Lord of the Flies but where the adults never come to rescue the survivors. When I read Death of the Grownup I was so sad about it. We don't grow up anymore? But all my heroes are adults, not kids! After age 50 and returning to work I realize that the idea of a generational divide is quaint: there is a contempt and even hatred for the "adult" in the room anymore. Oprah Winfrey said about getting older (and growing up) that its something we get to do. Its a good thing. I agree, but whoa sure didn't see the revolution coming in it's wake

[@BB-tx7tq]

Mark: so in short all these grey haired grown up lefties are a bunch of old emotionally retarded juvanile cry babies throwing temper tandrums if you hurt their feelings. Well said. That has been my experience also.

[@marynewcomer4067]

Can't believe Dr. Pinker has to defend himself. He is one of our great thinkers. Just read his books! I live in France and just can't understand what is going on in the States.

[@schechter01]

If you live in France then what's happening on this side of the pond should be familiar to you...if you know what happened in 1789.

[@josesbox9555]

Schechter Arts French Aristocracy got what it deserved.

[@carlidoepke5131]

I live in the States and can't understand what's going on in the States!

[@freyadom8010]

G K Chesterton once wrote (in the 'Error of Impartiality'): 'If there is one class of men whom history has proved especially and supremely capable of going wrong in all directions, it is the class of highly intellectual men. I would always prefer to go with the bulk of humanity.' Perhaps it is time for Pinker to ask himself: who is fighting for freedom of speech today, in practice. He appears to be in a state of shock: he has the look of a wild-eyed penitent about him; or of an old party member just purged from 'the best of all possible worlds'. Liberalism is like the siren that lured honest sailors to their doom with her beautiful voice. A really fascinating interview.

[@ns2110theonly]

Freya Dom I love your even more fascinating comment 🙏🏻 actually learned something.

[@Johnwilkinsonofficial]

people like steven pinker, sam harris, salman rushdie are actual liberals. critical theory devotees are something else and misusing the term is not helpful.

[@chrisdryer]

His silence is what caused this violence... of people being cancelled for being in favor of freedom of speech. They came for Alex Jones and we were silent.

[@nubzz]

If the "right" holds the power then why are those getting cancelled the people who espouse views that may be viewed as "right" or simply not "left" enough.

[@ns2110theonly]

nubzz exactly. Just what is this “power” the right holds? People losing their jobs for daring to say regular benign things that happen to disagree with theirs? The Left. Destroying families & careers for a comment they don’t like? The Left. Rioting, looting, calling for law and order to be dismantled? The Left. Then, spreading this lawless anarchy and chaos across the country in a matter of DAYS? The Left. Their insane mobs control the whole country right now. So where is the Right “power”? Just insane. What frightens me even more is there is no oversight there is no accountability no punishment, nothing.

[@raymondluca7779]

@@ns2110theonly the power to be killed by BLM and antifa which are the same...BLM = burn loot murder

[@garygenerous8982]

Steven Pinker is a brilliant man and while I disagree with many of his conclusions I can understand WHY he has those conclusions. But wow that TDS...

[@dragonknightleader1]

Yes. It's why I'm not terribly impressed with the Intellectual Dark Web. They're more interested in a late 00s holding pattern rather than actually challenging accepted scientism like Transgenderism and Identity Politics. They're effectively diet Woke.

[@legitlowtalker]

Alex Yesssss IDW more interested in huffing their own farts They hold more views inline with the woke cult Jordan Petersen excluded

[@dragonknightleader1]

@@legitlowtalker Peterson... is hard to talk about because of his current illnesses, but I would consider him the closest we had to an actual centrist. At least, when compared to the enlightened centrists that were complicit with the Left. But you have to remember that Peterson himself was broken into the Academia system. The result is that Thinkspot is a very expensive echo chamber, which isn't that much different than the universities themselves. The general problem IDW has stems from their genteel nature. They thought they can try to reason and dialog their way to peace because they THINK they understand people, but like the Eloi and the Morlocks, don't know how to control the radical Left. What happened to Bret Weinstein is the perfect illustration of what I mean and to this day, the IDW still have no defense for it. They sort of work with Fox News, but they don't associate with Right-wing think tanks like the Ayn Rand institute or Hoover Institution or Prager U. Ayaan Hirsi Ali's the only one that is working with Hoover. Another intellectual that often gets ignored is Gad Saad. He's the only one I've seen that understands the culture war as the war that it is and acts accordingly. IDW members like Joe Rogan and Sam Harris have questionable loyalty when it comes to wokeness. As annoying as it is, the Left do vet their people, which is why they can present as a solid block* while the IDW doesn't and constantly gets stymied. *I think this block is fragile when it comes to actual political power. They're walking Trump commercials.

[@sven8633]

Agreed. Call Trump an extreme right winger is going full retard. To Pinker, anything not full progressive is right winger. Trump is a Centrist just look at all of his policies

[@fredhubbard7210]

Pinker is lame. He was in a position to stand against Wokies. He didn't take it, and now they want to dance on his grave. Flirting with evil is never a good idea, and now they have taken him away. RIP Steven Pinker.

[@stvbrsn]

“Offense archeology” Yeah, that’s an apt term for it. I also like “pathologically narcissistic retroactive virtue-signaling shakedown.” (That one’s mine)

[@CandideSchmyles]

How about George Soros funded social change using infiltration of social and civic institutions to develop and unleash societal disintegration by means of critical theory? Well these billions hes been spending are bearing fruit.

[@MeanBeanComedy]

@@CandideSchmyles Not enough proof.

[@CandideSchmyles]

@@MeanBeanComedy Start here, follow where the rabbit hole takes you.... www.ukcolumn.org/article/nhs-common-purpose-towards-million-change-agents

[@frankmanning3815]

@Chris Jones Calling these people cunts is an insult to cunts everywhere.

[@dixonpinfold2582]

Do you like "the New Puritans"? It's mine, but go ahead and use it. Also consider "Post-modernist (or Far-left, Left-wing, or Neo-Marxist) fundamentalists".

[@pkpapers]

He should be cancelled because he is not "person of color." I learned that at college.

[@7788Sambaboy]

I would suggest that you have learned almost nothing except some cute little phrases from Fox entertainment

[@bbouchan1]

@@7788Sambaboy I would suggest that you are ignorant.

[@TheM8trixHasYou]

Your College seems to have taught you well, I don't see the problem with what you learned.

[@stuartarnold9444]

He is so not a person of colour even his hair is white.

[@stuartarnold9444]

@Mitch Holder Damn, I must be superior, as I'm slowly going grey. I wonder what I hate. Oh yeah, I remember; Karens. 😁

[@sankeesyuck951]

I saw Dr. Pinker in person recently and nearly hollered like he was an A-list celebrity and I wanted his autograph. Thanks for having him on and I look forward to his successful future, this cancel will not stick!

[@sankeesyuck951]

@Aurora Keen It's a bit disturbing but Epstein was a promoter of very advanced STEM progress, in one case providing massive funding for Harvard's Program for Evolutionary Dynamics. Not everyone that was associated or met with him was/is a pedophile, pederast, or sex trafficker. Some were associated by necessity and the fact that elite circles of Harvard and MIT and Tech pioneers are very small circles and Epstein had himself woven in too deep for anyone to steer totally clear. Eric Weinstein has the most interesting story of meeting Epstein and I wouldn't at all question Eric's character, quite the contrary given the story and his analysis.

[@sankeesyuck951]

​@Aurora Keen Fair enough. I'll hope Pinker's silence on the issue is in not wanting to dignify the idea and that justice is served to anybody involved at any point in time, unfortunately the latter statement is infinitely more hopeful than the former.

[@booAHHHH]

Absolutely love Steven Pinker have been listening to him for years can’t believe they have done this to him

[@ThePtoleme]

Didn't know him, but finding out just how much he's clueless.

[@booAHHHH]

ThePtoleme yet you’ve provided no evidence nor clues, just personal rhetoric

[@Tod_oMal]

He belongs to Harvard, which is dominated by Marxists, so this sounds like "friendly fire" to me.

[@kbeetles]

Everybody who over the past decades never said stop to the advance of the PC/ neo-marxist narrative deserve to be cancelled. The erosion of tried and tested values, the insanity and maliciousness of the political left was so obvious - maybe not to academia, but to anybody who still uses observation and common sense!

[@naughteedesign]

he's done this to himself. waaaaay too little to late and still unwilling to call out the problem. TDS it seems really does rot the brain.

[@eljeffrinho]

Someone else pointed out that they always try to "cancel" the most intelligent, credible academic figures.

[@joostvisser8537]

Tyrants always oppress who they fear

[@isabellebarriere7271]

If Pinker is in this crowd, it's very sad for academia...

[@madfish369]

Watching this dude Freddie....makes me despair for the Beeb, Gaurdian etc....what rubbish they've turned into. Freddie demonstrates what proper "journalism" interview, questions and conversations with guests are supposed to be like. I've watched quite a few of his interviews and he's very good at questioning the guest, and can you believe it....actually fucking listens to what they're saying. Keep up the great work you do.

[@dixonpinfold2582]

The Beeb and The Guardian wouldn't let him work in their cafeterias ladling soup.

[@madfish369]

@paul mendham you're right on that mate :) The problem nowadays is people only listen to respond aggressively...they don't listen to understand :(

[@siddhartha_1]

Memo: "Cancelations will continue until morale improves"

[@lighthousesaunders7242]

Cancellations will continue until Putin has pushed far past the Ukraine

[@roundedges2]

Lighthouse Saunders We can find more than enough villains within our own borders, I assure you

[@frankmanning3815]

Cancellations will continue until people stop apologizing and start laughing at these people, mocking them and ridiculing them incessantly until they crawl back into their holes.

[@lighthousesaunders7242]

@@roundedges2 quite. But they aren't limited to your borders

[@Menaceblue3]

Cancellation will continue until free speech is removed Once free speech is removed, organized religion will be removed Once organized religion is removed, freedom of assembly and protesting will be removed Once freedom of assembly and protesting is removed, the right to bear arms is removed Once the right to bear arms is removed, the right of defense will be removed Once the right of defense is removed, the equal protection of law and justice will be removed Once the right of equal protection of law and justice is removed, societal trust is removed Once societal trust is removed, you will be removed Once you are removed.... Utopia....

[@thechurchofsillybeggars8912]

“Living is easy with eyes closed misunderstanding all you see”

[@myggggeneration]

Screen time has starved the "soul". Pay attention.

[@argh2945]

Social media is destroying human connections. It's grimly ironic.

[@lettersquash]

We're all putting out media. Listen to Pinker - the media is focused on the bad. That is actually a basic psychological fact - we have a negativity bias (look it up). So every time we complain that something has caused us to lose something - "screen time has starved the soul" - "social media is destroying human connections" - think again. The Internet is the biggest general educational process humanity has been involved in since the invention of the printing press, and we're more connected than ever. Some people talk and care and love and give and console and campaign for a better world on social media. We're not stuck with it; we can work on that bias.

[@XLNC616]

JP a bit like vaccinations and industrial cleaners are destroying our immune systems

[@argh2945]

@@XLNC616 Yes, that and many other things. It's weird, when I look at the protests and riots taking place right now on the one had I'm put off by them because mob rule and violence are obviously inherently bad, but, on the other hand, I understand the frustration they must be feeling and how that frustration needs an outlet. So many horrific and broken things about our society that I can understand the desire to want to tear it all down at times.

[@primetimedurkheim2717]

@@lettersquash You don't think it's in some way possible it's also being used as a control mechanism in some fashion? Sure it's wonderful, but the negative aspects are absolutely real.

[@markflierl1624]

20:00 I can't take this guy seriously when he says the nationalist right is a problem. Most people on the far right are not authoritarians. They want their freedom and constitutional rights back.

[@CommunicationandConflict]

Great video and discussion again. Am continuously thinking why is it that our mainstream media are not providing this kind of exploratory, detailed discussion with people? It seems nowadays to have to be like a 'court trial' rather than a useful exploratory discussion. Keep it up Freddie, very much enjoying all of them.

[@ThePtoleme]

Mainstream media is fully in line with with cancel culture.

[@CommunicationandConflict]

@@ThePtoleme thanks for the comment - how do you see that showing up in the media? I think there is a lot of 'agenda' in the media rather than a focus on researching and reporting but how do you see it as being in line with cancel culture? Not disagreeing just want to explore a bit more about why/where you see that happening?

[@tim40gabby25]

30m views for a Tic Tic treat, though these pearls get only 1,000s?.. maybe banal comfort is a problem for the West. Old UK observer here, with broad shoulders, so fire away :)

[@CommunicationandConflict]

@@tim40gabby25 I think if this kind of interview returned to being the way things are done (as it used to be) then seeing the contrast would bring people back to being engaged. Although the banal has always had its place :-)

[@sharonadams2388]

Sayers is right - we have "empirical proof" that the ability to string together lots of words does NOT meet the needs of the people, and in fact ignores fundamental aspects of being human.

[@ns2110theonly]

Sharon Adams love it🙏🏻

[@SimonHaestoe]

Beautifully put - one of many ways in which rationality/atheism (of that excludes all spirituality) will not satisfy our needs. Pinker did not seem to comprehemd what Freddie meant by soul... Perhaps beauty would fit there, but otherwise his response is symptomatic to how western culture is too logical/rational... many would laugh at the word soul, assuming the person is a creationist...

[@latebloomer6179]

Being a fan of Pinker's for years, and though I'm certainly not a Trump supporter myself, I find the sentence "You never want to make Trump right about anything" to be astoundingly reductive. Proof that we are living in strange times, indeed.

[@marcgreen34]

Thanks for another excellent interview, Freddie. Definitely cultivating a high-level channel

[@mathman2170]

Wow, Pinker just unmasked the players in a few simple sentences (9:00 --> 11:40) -- no wonder they (the deceivers) want him silenced.

[@Liphted]

The problem with Pinker is that he's fighting against the logical conclusion of his own ideas.

[@janrendek]

Exactly

[@User_2]

Could you elaborate on which conclusions? Honest curiousity here

[@Liphted]

Lol they actually talk about it in the interview if you watch instead of just read the comments section and move on.

[@User_2]

Brotha Liphted that’s quite the broad statement then, ALL his ideas expressed in this 27 minute interview leads to paradoxical conclusions?

[@Liphted]

Ok since y'all have no imagination let me spell it out for you retards (you need to lay off the soy btw). The rationalism that you momos rely so much on is being used against you fuck faces to rationalize irrational things, and if you question it, well it's only rational that you do that cause you're a fragile white male, and you got to believe my lived experience on this or your just a racist. You see where I'm getting at you autistic retards?

[@jeda35]

Dr. Pinker's 2-minute description starting at 9:08 is a very clear and helpful summary of a modern mental contagion. An essential point is the dangerously misguided idea, "that to achieve progress, power has to be wrested from those who are currently wielding it." And of course that feelings and solidarity are all-important, with no value placed on reason, clarity or any basic truth. Thanks for sharing this interview.

[@AliRadicali]

I'm glad the corrosive effects of cancel culture are becoming a more mainstream topic of discussion, it's a sign that the tide is turning quickly on the outrage mob. As with the Emperor's new Clothes, it's the complacency of the silent majority that allows the shrill minority to control everyone else.

[@99dynasty]

Pinker has the support of the internet. That matters more than you realize.

[@jack_mclennan]

epstein.

[@shyman3000]

You can't have the support of the internet and a whine about free speech at the same time.

[@thefishtruck]

No, he has the support of aggrieved white bois who want their intellectual papa Pinker to tell them capitalism gOoD, socialism bAd.

[@99dynasty]

thefishtruck I think you have Pinker confused with someone like Peter Thiel. Pinker gets most of his publicity for his willingness not to censor himself on certain uncomfortable topics like biological differences between men and woman, for example.

[@solarnaut]

putin has a few city blocks of professional trolls 24/7 gunning against sanity and anything stabilizing ... never mind what dear leader and china have ... YES, there is some "mutual fund of sanity" that can be crowd sourced on the internet, but it's VERY vulnerable to hijacking. :-o

[@djgrab1]

We need to reassert the actual meaning of the word "bigot", "racist" etc. I can't just call you a "child molester" in a civil discourse because you are advocating for more more public playgrounds and I happen to disagree with you. Now we know of course that child molesters like more public playgrounds (this is for the purpose of analogy just stay with me here), but that doesn't mean that it's the ONLY reason someone might hold that position. Same is true about immigration, police reform, education choice, abortion rights, etc. You can have a range of opinions about these things that simply have nothing to do with race or gender based bigotry. Wanting more ice cream trucks doesn't make you a child molester apologist. Moreover, there is zero risk in slandering someone with the claim that they are a "racist". No consequence whatsoever, in fact the accuser GAINS social capital even if he's wrong! Guess how that ends up shaking out? What if it were just the safest possible move to call someone a rapist in a debate and there was no downside if your were wrong?!

[@andylarsen4739]

This should have more likes.

[@solarnaut]

I'm sorry, how much did you say the ice cream costs ? Facts, Man, We Need FACTS ! ;-) YES, we have a MAJOR problem with civil discourse and "bad faith actors"/ disingenuous folks bent on "winning" rather than rational and "fair" dialogue. Bret Weinstein remarks about how fragile/vulnerable "high quality conversations" are to "conversational terrorists." He likens them to someone who insists upon wearing an explosive vest to your dinner party. Either we need "gated" forums or we need "rules of engagement" that actually apply.

[@AnnaLVajda]

Society loves actual child molesters the courts give them light sentences all the time they love rapists too. Must be really common yet people get more offended being called a diddler than the fact the diddlers are so common.

[@janrendek]

Yes. I denote the new meaning of racist: "newspeak racist". The original meaning needs no extra denotations.

[@shiowmeychiao3325]

Ján Rendek Simply put, racist has no meaning in today’s verbal war at all.

[@onlytheguest]

He was very blind at the start of this movement, while teaching in the heart of it. It seems a bit dishonest at this point.

[@dommice]

Please make these interviews available as audio only podcasts. It’s not always convenient to watch KZbin for 30 mins but I can listen to an audio podcast wherever I am. Many thanks

[@julie5978]

He is still clueless. He actually thinks the far right is more dangerous because it "actually weilds real power."

[@thrinethran2885]

Lost media, academia, culture, administration, corporate business ... almost every aspect of society to the totalitarian control of the radical left. The Non Left intellectuals and politicians are proving spineless. Not even "honing their arguments while their enemies were sharpening their swords".

[@7788Sambaboy]

wields power today...in the US is what he meant. What he didn't say is that the incompetent criminal clown show that playing daily in the WH is incredibly dangerous regarding pandemic deaths and economic chaos with NO plan, insults to our allies have dropped our leadership role in the world and hateful rhetoric from a deranged narcissist is making the far right dangerous because trump encourages their impulses and fears...that's what he meant to say

[@mikewalters3048]

I remember Steven had a lecture describing ethnic groups and their various average group intellects. The video is available to view on KZbin. As I watched it I thought, Steven, things like this may someday come back to haunt you.

[@WhtetstoneFlunky]

I believe the KZbin videos come in a couple of segments and they go back a few years. I watched one once and as I recall, it was primarily about Jews and theories as to why their contributions to mankind are disproportionately more numerous.

[@GordonEngels]

Or his jaunts on the Lolita Express

[@dixonpinfold2582]

If it's true, provide the link. Otherwise no one should take your claim as anything but an attempt at a smear.

[@DD-ut2ew]

Heather Watson why don’t you also mention the reasons for those disproportionate contributions that he mentions? I haven’t watched the video, but I am willing bet it will *not* be “because Jew DNA makes the smarter” but more likely something like “Jewish kids are less likely to have divorced parents”, “Jews invest more in education”, “Jews have higher average income”, etc. things that would benefit our society to be discussed, instead of silencing them. Please share a link to the video if that’s not the case, I’d love to see it.

[@mikewalters3048]

@@dixonpinfold2582 Rather than a link that KZbin might not allow, I'll give you the title of the video which you can copy and do a simple KZbin search... "Steven Pinker - Jews, Genes and Intelligence". Also, I do not know why you would think my first comment is an attempt to smear Steven Pinker. He was giving an academic lecture explaining the possible reasons for the historical success of Jews.

[@lickedcat]

When you play with fire, be careful, because you might get burnt. Seems like the monster they created is no longer under their control.

[@kylewatson5133]

"Can't we nourish our souls by eliminating extreme poverty?" I lost it laughing. This Pinker dude is not only an intellectual breathe of fresh air he's got comic potential.

[@BB-tx7tq]

the problem is to eliminate extreme poverty would require changing the charater and habits of the extremely poor, something the left seemingly will never understand. Give the man a fishing pole and teach him to fish only works if that man wants to learn to fish. For some Its easier just taking fish given to you by those who do the hard work.

[@TheMar320]

i am against canceling, but Pinker is such an ignorant and silly author. Every time he says that, of course, we still have much work to do to improve our society, and every time someone shouts for change he comes up with a graph, saying:" oh you are on the wrong track, progress has been made!". How on earth do you seek progress without shouting for it? Progress comes from progression itself?? He has dozens of serious critics against him, but they are not superstars. Check it up. There is a lot of refuting.

[@chb762]

"Offense archeology" LMAO. Nice one.

[@shanejovanovic6073]

Agreed. Sums up eloquently what I've thus far learnt of critical theory.

[@zknarc]

I had a chuckle at this term too. "Grievance studies" is another good one I've heard coined.

[@johngreenhalgh4428]

Talking of intolerance, in the UK, Dr David Starkey, who is a well respected historian and was even regarded as a national treasure, has just been cancelled. He made an unfortunate comment on the spur of the moment during a KZbin interview, for which he has now apologised unreservedly, and which was seized on by the 'thought police' who now believe in 'zero tolerance' and no apologies accepted. As a consequence a whole lifetime of merit may be wiped out because he misspoke for a couple of seconds.

[@argh2945]

And yet say that you resist urge to kneecap white men everyday and the university you work for will give you a promotion.

[@lolguytiger45]

I detect some intellectual dishonesty on the part of Pinker in his labeling Donald Trump as a far-right nationalist. Center right populist seems closer to me.

[@cynthiacools-lartigue5297]

Matt Lyons many people forget that Trump was a Democrat .....

[@jerrytugable]

Matt Lyons Pinker is a politically shallow lefty professor. That is not to detract from masterpieces like How the Mind Works. Dawkins, Harris, even Dan Dennett are all naive lefties while also being genius science educators.

[@tbk2010]

He uses rethoric that could also come from real nationalists, but it doesn't really seem his policies are all that extreme.

[@stuartarnold9444]

In most of the world Democrats are considered to be centre right.

[@Dude0000]

Stuart Arnold the rest of then World is subsidised by America, that’s why.

[@mazyzazie4048]

Both interviewee and interviewer excellent, if I may say so. Thank you both.

[@elwynjones763]

I assume this criticism does not apply to professors of real science subjects such as astrophysics, geology, biology etc. etc. The problem lies with humanities and social science departments., not to mention the vague subjects which probably should not exist in universities such as media, black, islamic , religious, studies etc. etc. Too many students in too many universities studying rubbish.

[@hunkarun]

Correct but I think these social rubbish is more influential in the universities and even influencing social policies. The actual scientists are now conforming to this idiocy and even distorting undeniable truths and facts.

[@micahdelaurentis6551]

This is what happens when you have a culture that tells you in so many ways just how important you are. You begin to take it real seriously and think yourself an authority on everything; all the likes on twitter prove it. And anyone who opposes you is obviously wrong and must be canceled. An honor killing of the intellect. It's really a pitiful time. The antidote is just a drop of humility.

[@tkondaks]

From the letter: "The forces of illiberalism are gaining strength throughout the world and have a powerful ally in Donald Trump, who represents a real threat to democracy." How so?

[@karenfriesen280]

Tony Kondaks Yes, how so? After watching what’s unfolded in the last few months, I have gone from personally ridiculing Trump to believing that the right holds our only hope for freedom. This cancel culture is terrifying but what I find even more frightening is the powers who cave to it-employers, media, etc, who fire people or publicly shame them when the cancel culture army attacks. Typically the victim’s crime is voicing dissent from the mainstream narrative. Absurd.

[@peteT269]

Clearing peaceful protestors using force, labelling anyone who disagrees with him "fake" in an effort to build hatred and distrust against the media and thus silence any critisicm of him, spreading lies about postal votes in order to limit the people who will vote to those who don't care about COVID-19 (dominantly Trump supporters).... I could go on and on.

[@tariel1928]

My suspicion was that explicitly singling out Trump would buy them credibility with the "woke" crowd. Any surprise it didn't? (And that Trump supporters haven't tried to throw the whole lot of them under the bus?)

[@markusmulder_]

P MET No please don’t go on!. There is already enough of this bs being spread. No one needs yours too. Thank you 🙏

[@peteT269]

​@@markusmulder_ Classic reply when you can't refute the points I made. So you like Trump? You think he's a good person? An intelligent person? Someone who cares for others other than himself? Someone who has united the country in a time of crisis? You know, all the hallmarks of good leadership...

[@michelleyb8536]

He's worried about less tenured professors who aren't as safe as he is? That's a false sense of security my friend. Placed "on notice" today, viciously cancelled tomorrow.

[@garyvlahos635]

Pinker is an equivocator . He's not "worried" about other people, he's worried about himself ...like any RATIONAL person would be :)

[@brackcarmony6385]

Pinker has enough notoriety through his own books that he could live off just that fairly easily. So yeah I don't doubt that he feels safer than an adjunct or more junior professors.

[@mayorofthenonsense]

Good interview, though here's my problem with the general suggestion that rationality is the tool to bridge all gaps and resolve all conflicts: rationality is not a remotely objective or consistent construct, not at all like the laws of physics. It doesn't sit in a vacuum waiting to be invoked uniformly like a mathematical solution to a common problem, but is rather generated and instructed by a foundational worldview. If your worldview holds personal and intellectual freedom as it's highest value, then the most rational way for you to resolve conflict would be agreeing to disagree and most likely creating space. But if your worldview holds power and dominance as its highest value, then the most rational way of solving conflict is to simply silence or eliminate your opposition. Rationality only works when opposing interests share the same or similar worldviews. It is entirely subjective and dependant on what your goals and interests are, and yet we still hear it bandied about like some kind of scientific panacea that would solve everything, if only people would use it. But when you ask someone to be rational in the interests of solving a problem, what you are asking is that they partially adopt your interests and worldview. Sometimes it works because your interests are compatible, but often it doesn't.

[@geneklee7608]

Yes, rationality is only a tool, one that has been used throughout history to justify all kinds of different and contradictory assumptions and preconceptions.

[@exysness]

I see your point, interesting, I do agree. Rationality only works accompanied by open-mindedness, but open-mindedness is not an innate trait and many of us humans have none of it.

[@shanejovanovic6073]

"It'll be a mixed and mostly negative year." What an optimist.

[@zapfanzapfan]

The pessimist says "It can't get worse" and the optimist says "yes it can"... Godzilla hasn't showed up yet, nor has the asteroid...

[@forbesfoofighters]

Kind of ironic considering how pinker tried to academically discredit Kevin B. MacDonald. What goes around comes around I guess

[@kargs5krun]

Heard a lot of "blah, blah, blah" up until the golden, pointed, poignant question was asked @8:36 and Pinker danced(?), moseyed(?), punted(?) around it with his 3+min answer. Harvard & the Ivy league (including Berkeley, Stanford, et al) have MUCH to "account for" as to why we're at where we are at, in this point in time (2020) good & bad....to be _fair/gratuitous_ (

[@fsb2cool2care]

I thought his answer was completely equivalent to the complexity of the question.

[@mathman2170]

I feel greatly enriched by this discussion -- thank you.

[@TumbleSensei]

High level guest and great content. Love it!

[@rexsprouse4893]

In the interest of filling out the story, about the time this interview was made, approximately 200 serious linguists signed a letter that begins with the following sentence: "We write as linguists who disagreed for various reasons with the open letter that called for the revocation of Steven Pinker's status as LSA Fellow and his removal from the Society's list of media experts - and therefore did not sign it." Also, many, many of the people who signed the petition calling for Steven Pinker's "cancellation" have made essentially zero contribution to the field of linguistics, quite a few are simply not linguists by any reasonable definition of the word, and many are not located in North America.

[@BB-tx7tq]

the most interesting take away from this is 'many are not located in north America. Hmmmmmmmm

[@hipster_valdez]

That part when Pinker actually says that right wing nationalism is a significantly greater threat: wasn't the response the interviewer was expecting haha

[@BB-tx7tq]

probably because its not true.

[@hipster_valdez]

@@BB-tx7tq I'm listening...

[@janethalley2154]

It is Orwellian. Steven. you need to examine who exactly is behind all of this and why.

[@Steve83B]

14:07. This was a great question.

[@billuk1413]

Who started all of this absolute bollocks?

[@Sassol66]

"Every tweet is a written deposition." So true.

[@cristinalacoste2062]

Censorship is the child of fear and the father of ignorance. L H Anderson.

[@grumpywasp4533]

Pinker is undoubtedly one of the greatest thinkers and most important communicators of our time. He is, however, sadly still blinkered by his own political and humanistic biases. Without any sense of irony here, he states that “woke” social justice, postmodern, neo-marxist type ideology is *less* dangerous than national populism because the latter “wields levers of power”. Aside from Trump and a couple of relatively insignificant Central- Eastern European leaders, where does national populism wield power? Is it the national populists who are trying to cancel him? Is it the national populists who run the western media? Is it the national populists who operate the deep state in every western nation? Are the riots on the streets of the USA nae across Europe the result of national populism? Has national population captured our universities and liberal institutions? No, in each of these cases, the power is held and enforced by the left. The “levers of of power” are wielded solely by the woke, postmodernists. Neo/cultural Marxism has the power and brutally administers it where it fancies, without challenge or question! Every move Trump makes is opposed. He has no real power. Every decision Bolsanaro makes is ridiculed. Every policy designed by Dominic Cummings is labelled “Far Right”. National populism has no power that is any more than a facade. Pinker, and others like him, need to open their eyes and discover who the real enemies are, and who are their friends.

Read George Orwell..... this says it all.

[@antiheiderggarianleague.1899]

Why, he was a snitch, just like the people in his book.

[@antiheiderggarianleague.1899]

@My Life Ok.

[@hyperduality2838]

Ignorance is dual to strength. Freedom is dual to slavery. War is dual to peace. Freedom (freewill, choice) is dual to tyranny. Duality: two sides of the same coin. Randomness (entropy) is dual to order (syntropy, predictability). Syntropy is dual to increasing entropy -- the 4th law of thermodynamics. Teleological physics (syntropy) is dual to non-teleological physics (entropy). Absolute is dual to relative, objective is dual to subjective. Gravitation is equivalent or DUAL to acceleration -- Einstein's happiest thought, the principle of equivalence. Truth is dual to falsity, the one cannot exist without the other. Questions are dual to answers. Thesis is dual to anti-thesis -- the time independent Hegelian dialectic. Hegel's cat:- Alive (thesis, being) is dual to not alive (anti-thesis, non being) -- Schrodinger's cat. Electric charge: positive is dual to negative. Magnets: north poles are dual to south poles. Electro is dual to magnetic -- Electromagnetism, electro magnetic energy is dual. Potential energy is dual to kinetic energy, pure energy or light conforms to wave/particle or quantum duality. Gravitational energy is dual. Energy is duality. duality is energy! Duality is being conserved -- the 5th law of thermodynamics. Duality creates reality.

@@hyperduality2838 Are you a Marxist or merely trying to impress with your "erudition"?

[@hyperduality2838]

@ Marxism and the British empire were both based upon the classical or time dependent Hegelian dialectic, problem, reaction, solution. In recent history and in modern politics it is used everywhere by governments to control their populations. Hitler used it to take control of Germany when he burned down the Reichstag. The Gulf of Tonkin incident was used by the American government to start the Vietnam war. If you have studied physics then you learn to generalize everything so I have generalized the Hegelian dialectic of philosophy. Thesis is dual to anti-thesis. The result is duality. This is proper physics. It is allows me to discover/create the 4th law of thermodynamics, what is dual to entropy? It only gets better after this. Energy is dual to mass -- Einstein. Dark energy is dual to dark matter. Fear is dual to anger, anger is dual to hate, hate is dual to suffering -- the Yoda dualities! George Orwell subconsciously used duality.

[@unitedstatesofpostamerica7559]

Interviewer did a good job on this. Changed from dislike to like.

[@hinteregions]

I went the other way actually, when he summed up Pinker's public image with 'ultimate optimist.' Showing us all that he really does not know who Stephen Pinker is or is not above a bit of clickbaiting here and there.

[@lolcat5303]

He's generally a very good interviewer, but some of his guests... eugh.

[@hinteregions]

@@lolcat5303 Isn't that what makes a very good interviewer?

[@ajs41]

@@hinteregions You can be an optimist and wrong at the same time.

[@hinteregions]

@@ajs41 Yes, 50% of the time, all things being equal, thanks for that gem. He does talk about his own optimistic state, mentions it in this video. But I don't see his work as 'optimistic,' more intended as a remedy for mis-informed media-fired pessimism. And he is wrong - how?

[@hohaia01]

Why should we care if people feel unsafe? There is a big difference between feeling unsafe and being unsafe.

[@staninjapan07]

22:10 The point he makes here is, I think, crucial. That is not to say that the rest is of no importance or significance by any means. I recommend watching the whole video.

[@DeyvsonMoutinhoCaliman]

In my opinion Steven Pinker is maybe the greatest intelectual alive, I love his books. Imagine how pathetic you have to be to try to cancel him. But it's easy to see how the extreme left would be against him, because what really put me in the right was exactly the fact that I don't accept that human beings are blank slates and I don't believe that culture can mold human behavior indefinitely.

[@antiheiderggarianleague.1899]

Lol, wut? I am stupid and I know that he is a stupid shallow person.

[@marynadononeill]

@@antiheiderggarianleague.1899 Troll much? You're all over this comment section. Is it a personal vendetta? Doesn't matter tho. FREE SPEECH for people 'you' think are stupid or not!

[@antiheiderggarianleague.1899]

@@marynadononeill I agree, but that does not changes the fact that Pinker is quite stupid.

[@antiheiderggarianleague.1899]

@My Life Sick and twisted just means I perverted your Ideology sniff. You are eating from the trash can of ideology sniff.

[@matttorrence2900]

He still can’t admit fully what is obvious

[@therabitoshowrules]

@@alextownsend6662 here I'll say it: kzbin.info/www/bejne/g4bPoYKXmdl_gZI

[@clayandputtyvideos1647]

I will type what is completely obvious: We entered into another McCarthy era this time McCarthy is Black/Muslim agenda/corporate agenda/Rothschild trying to create division and terror and trying to turn people against Donald Trump and they seem to not stop at anything to get their ways. This has Nothing to do with Marxism.

[@matttorrence2900]

@@clayandputtyvideos1647 But Antifa are fascist-communist totalitarians.

[@clayandputtyvideos1647]

@@matttorrence2900 They are fascist dictators. Not communists. They want to take over and make the US like Africa.

[@NotesForSpaceCadets]

12:39 : It's incredible how naive Pinker is.

[@ernestscuttle9139]

That's how he strikes me too.

[@tariel1928]

I wonder when last a mob of Trump supporters tried to have him ousted in any way...

[@carstenweiland7896]

It is a counter culture to enlightenment! How is describing the Woke movement as that a naive view? Please try to educate me!

[@Dude0000]

Notes For Space Cadets the left is targeting him yet he’s scared of Trump supporters. He deserves all he gets...

[@barrowmeoct04]

I left a high control cult-like religion years ago. Shortly after leaving I went down a rabbit hole of questioning everything. Sometimes I thought I was evil for the conclusions I drew from that journey. But as I came up out of it, I stumbled on people like Sam Harris, Jordan Peterson, and others of that ilk, that reassured me that the very limited ideas I had about the world from how I was looking at life wasn't too far off; now Steven Pinker is on that list. Although I don't agree with some of his ideas about the threat posed by left vs right, I think out of all of those people Steven Pinker seems to be the most compassionate and considerate. But even 'he' can't escape the mob. I used to think the mob hated Trump specifically because to them he comes across as brash, bombastic, polemic, and all the other negative adjectives they can think of, but they are obviously just as willing to cancel a mild mannered, soft spoken, considerate man. Although Steven Pinker probably doesn't like it, he is being quasi cancelled because he represents essentially the same thing as Trump, opposition to the authoritarian utopia and those would would destroy the system because they say it is irredeemable. It seems that whether someone pulls no punches, or is very polite about their opinions, cancelers gonna cancel.

[@dixonpinfold2582]

You most certainly do not sound like anyone at all amenable to 'high control' any longer. I salute your completion of the changeover.

[@barrowmeoct04]

@@dixonpinfold2582 Thanks, it's been a sharp learning curve, and I'm still learning. The journey was absolutely worth the effort.

[@skipmurf2]

Steven Pinker swerves regularly into the truth until he describes the right-wing as authoritarian. Nothing could be further from the truth, and I wonder if he can show anything to substantiate that claim. I'm as right-wing as I can be but reject any notion that authoritarianism has anything to do with the right-wing. Perhaps the correct description of many on the right is libertarian. Live and let live!

[@davesparks9503]

Latham W. Murfey III Well said..

[@BobsCrazyUncle]

"I never want to see Trump right about anything." Perhaps you are part of the problem Mr. Pinker.

[@MrVpassenheim]

No perhaps about it. He got off easy, for now. Give it a few more months. They'll finish him off, but at least he earned it.

[@aquilachrysaetos5301]

The left will cancel him, take away his free speech and ruin his academic career and reputation. And yet, he still thinks the populist right is the big problem!

[@djnv4702]

When people strip away belief in a Higher Power who teaches and encourages love, forgiveness, mercy, kindness, self control, patience, holiness, and all manner of virtues-and instead decide to rely on the “goodness or rightness of mankind alone,” the steep slope into what we see occurring against even atheist liberal types is no surprise. For what is the replacement for living in a culture that submits itself to the higher principles of a good God? Principles that much of western civilization adhered to for thousands of years? It is to submit instead to the passions and powers of self gratification and power of a chaotic collective will of the “fittest.” And while these people are not fit in ways most of us would regard as fit, they are loud, devouring, aggressive, and have voracious appetites for “blood.” They easily overpower those who have “sensibilities,” and without emotion destroy these perceived enemies of their own ideologically possessed identities. There is no materialist, evolutionary moral constraint on this current cultural way of being and thinking. It’s lion against zebra and fox against mouse. Worse, it’s the “cannibalisization” of a people who will now destroy a whole civilization that took thousands of years to build in the mindless, gut-filled desire of “progress.” Without a higher moral principle than their own infantile and base desires, they will plow downward into chaos and try to take all with them. They will, that is, unless we as a culture admit we need to submit ourselves not to our own desires, but to that Higher Power of good and holiness that saves us from ourselves.

[@TeaParty1776]

Mans basic method of survival is reason -Ayn Rand

[@djnv4702]

TeaParty1776 how can this reason be enough when powerful groups and nations have all believed they were being reasonable even when committing genocide?

[@TeaParty1776]

@@djnv4702 The genocides were explicitly guided by an intuition-based attack on mans reasoning mind. They were "reasonable" relative to their intuitions. Marxism and Nazism are explicitly based in intuition, not in the rational minds logical processing of the evidence of the senses.

[@djnv4702]

TeaParty1776 not from their perspectives. It made perfect sense and could be rationalized in view of their final goal.

[@TeaParty1776]

@@djnv4702 Contradiction: final goal=their perspectives. Rationalization-dishonest justification reason-identification and integration of perceptions.

[@fairdose]

Wasn't Pinker a guest on Jeffrey Epstein's island or ranch?

[@maverickstclare3756]

He paid for Epstein's defence in his original trial Harvard & MIT took millions in Donations from Epstein after his release where Pinker was a professor

[@TeaParty1776]

@An Deo Ideas, not personalities, determine history. Marxs early attack on capitalism was virtually religious conservatism.

[@TeaParty1776]

@@maverickstclare3756 And his ideas...?

[@maverickstclare3756]

@@TeaParty1776 I'm no mind reader

[@TeaParty1776]

@@maverickstclare3756 You evade his explicitly stated ideas for his personal history (whatever the truth of it may be). His ideas are either true or false.

[@Tod_oMal]

Harvard University, where he belongs, is a huge part of the problem, because it is a Marxist colony. So, he has some "homework" to do on this.

[@brianmackenzie938]

Liberals need to distance themselves from leftists, the letter provides the distinction.

[@MindandQiR1]

I heard about this yesterday and that Chomsky refused to sign on!

[@HondoTrailside]

I got tired of Chomsky after 40 years of reading the same thing, but that news gladdens the heart. He has always known who he is.

[@Nick23at63]

Chomsky did sign the letter.

[@MindandQiR1]

@@Nick23at63 Chomsky didn't sign on to cancel Pinker. He signed on to that other thing, Harper's Magazine debate or something like that.

[@Nick23at63]

@@MindandQiR1 - Okay, when you said "Sign on", I assumed you meant the Harper Magazine letter, which he did sign.

[@JRobbySh]

Chomsky is a sane man.

[@nutsbutdum]

He's deleting comments. That's rich! 😂😂😂

[@toobnoobify]

Maybe you were trying to post FBI statistics about violent crime? Or maybe the name of the Ukraine **cough** whistleblower? In which case the woke algorithm will auto-delete your post.

[@kevinf9822]

Probably more like KZbin, not Freddy.

[@SeanDot]

The day a group of educated people tried to cancel Steven Pinker, is the day Civilization jumped the shark.

[@DominikLuger]

Which signatures were fraudulent? I couldn't find the names anywhere.

[@harleywoolford5247]

but how often do people feel the need to censor themselves because of national populism?

[@adamweishaupt2846]

"Cancel culture" acts as a type of quality control for me. If I see the torch burning mob are seeking to cancel somebody I tend to think that person is actually worth listening to.

[@billc1388]

Freddie Sayers is an excellent interviewer. He actually asks questions that inspire smart nuanced answers. I hope one day to be interviewed by him.

[@DartagnanMagic]

One of his professors said Mao installed a utopia? WOW.

[@BB-tx7tq]

Wow is right! I cant decide if these Marxist fanatics are just really ignorant of history or just plain Hitler level evil. Any thoughts?

[@DartagnanMagic]

@@BB-tx7tq Well if the stats are 70% of American reads 1 book a year, and on average 4 - pretty easy to see why.

[@ricodelavega4511]

How does this prof always manage to have sexy hair? His hair never looks bad, no matter the angle. Any of you ladies have any guesses on what hair products he appears to be using? goddamn, i wish i had hair like that.

[@koru9780]

We so need more people like Steven. I can only imagine what Christopher Hitchens would be saying right now.