Authors and thinkers
Author

Steven Pinker

12 key ideas across 2 books, each explained in our own words.

Rationality

  1. IDEA 1

    Rationality is a toolkit

    Logic, probability, statistics and decision theory are tools anyone can learn to reason better.

  2. IDEA 2

    Think like a Bayesian

    Update beliefs in proportion to the strength of new evidence, starting from how likely something was before.

  3. IDEA 3

    Correlation isn't causation

    Before concluding A causes B, look for controlled comparisons and other explanations.

All 6 ideas from Rationality →

Enlightenment Now

  1. IDEA 1

    Progress is real

    Life expectancy, health, wealth, safety and education have improved dramatically over the last two centuries, even if it doesn't feel that way.

  2. IDEA 2

    Reason, science and humanism

    Pinker credits Enlightenment values for most of this progress.

  3. IDEA 3

    Negativity bias

    News focuses on sudden disasters, while slow improvements go unreported. That skews perception.

All 6 ideas from Enlightenment Now →

Debates featuring Steven Pinker

Should economic growth come before environmental protection?Grow first, clean later vs Nature sets the limitsWill AI and automation create more jobs than they destroy?Technology creates work vs This time is differentAre cities the engines of progress or of inequality?Cities drive growth vs Cities widen gapsShould science be limited by ethics?Free inquiry vs Ethics must guideHas globalisation helped or hurt developing countries?It lifted millions vs Gains were unevenShould we measure progress by GDP or well-being?GDP matters vs Well-being matters

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