The Language Instinct Steven Pinker June 18
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Has the Decline of Violence Reversed Since the Better Angels of Our Nature Was Written?
Has the Decline of Violence Reversed since The Better Angels of Our Nature was Written? Steven Pinker Many journalists, citing recent violence in Syria, Iraq, Gaza, and Ukraine, have asked me whether the decline of violence has gone into reverse since The Better Angels of Our Nature was written. The question betrays the same statistical misconceptions that led me to write Better Angels in the first place. People always think that violence has increased because they reason from memorable examples rather than from global data. If at any time you cherry-pick the most violent place in the world, then you’ll discover that yes, it’s violent. That has nothing to do with overall rates or trends in violence. The basic problem is that journalism is a systematically misleading way to understand the world. News is about things that happen, not about things that don’t happen. You never see a reporter standing on the streets of Angola, Sri Lanka, or Vietnam saying “I’m here reporting that a war has not broken out today.” It’s only by looking at data on the world as a whole that you get an accurate picture of the trends. Objectively, there has indeed been an uptick in war deaths in 2013 compared to 2012 (it’s too early to have data for 2014), mostly due to the war in Syria. But the overall level of deaths is still far below those of the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, when the world was a far more dangerous place. Even putting aside the obvious examples (such as the Cuban Missile Crisis and the 3- million-death war in Vietnam), one sees that the conflicts of today are far less damaging than those of past decades. -
The Adaptive Significance of Human Language
University of Tennessee, Knoxville TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange Senior Thesis Projects, 1993-2002 College Scholars 2000 The Adaptive Significance of Human Language Nathan Oesch Follow this and additional works at: https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_interstp2 Recommended Citation Oesch, Nathan, "The Adaptive Significance of Human Language" (2000). Senior Thesis Projects, 1993-2002. https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_interstp2/52 This Project is brought to you for free and open access by the College Scholars at TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Senior Thesis Projects, 1993-2002 by an authorized administrator of TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The Adaptive Significance of Human Language Nathan Oesch Department of Psychology University of Tennessee, Knoxville noesch @ utk. edu Abstract Many experts have argued that human language is fundamentally incompatible with the principles of traditional Darwinian evolutionary theory. According to conventional Darwinian explanations, specific traits evolved among species according to gradual and incremental genetic changes, each of which that were in some way so favorable to the survival and reproduction of ancestral generations that they were ultimately preserved within successive generations of those species. Human language, it has been said, is simply to complex to be explained as a result of Darwinian explanations, since each successive step in the evolution of language would confer no obvious survival benefits to its recipients. According to this idea, language is such an "all-or none system," that it could not possibly have existed in any immediately beneficial intermediate forms and thus could not have evolved according to conventional Darwinian modes of explanation. -
Balanced Biosocial Theory for the Social Sciences
UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations 1-1-2004 Balanced biosocial theory for the social sciences Michael A Restivo University of Nevada, Las Vegas Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/rtds Repository Citation Restivo, Michael A, "Balanced biosocial theory for the social sciences" (2004). UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations. 1635. http://dx.doi.org/10.25669/5jp5-vy39 This Thesis is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been brought to you by Digital Scholarship@UNLV with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this Thesis in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s) directly, unless additional rights are indicated by a Creative Commons license in the record and/ or on the work itself. This Thesis has been accepted for inclusion in UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Scholarship@UNLV. For more information, please contact [email protected]. BALANCED BIOSOCIAL THEORY FOR THE SOCIAL SCIENCES by Michael A. Restivo Bachelor of Arts IPIoridkijSjlarrhcIJiuAHsrsity 2001 A thesis submitted in partial fulfillm ent ofdœnxpnnnnenkfbrthe Master of Arts Degree in Sociology Departm ent of Sociology College of Liberal Arts Graduate College University of Nevada, Las Vegas M ay 2004 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number: 1422154 INFORMATION TO USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleed-through, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. -
Throughout His Career, Whether Studying Language
Throughout his career, whether studying language, advocating a realistic biology of mind, or examining the human condition through the lens of humanistic Enlightenment ideas, psychologist Steven Pinker has embraced and championed a naturalistic understanding of the universe and the computational theory of mind. He is perhaps the first internationally recognized public intellectual whose recognition is based on the advocacy of empirically based thinking about language, mind, and human nature. “Just as Darwin made it possible for a thoughtful observer of the natural world to do without creationism,” he says, “Turing and others made it possible for a thoughtful observer of the cognitive world to do without spiritualism.” In the debate about AI risk, he argues against prophecies of doom and gloom, noting that they spring from the worst of our psychological biases—exemplified particularly by media reports: “Disaster scenarios are cheap to play out in the probability-free zone of our imaginations, and they can always find a worried, technophobic, or morbidly fascinated audience.” Hence, over the centuries: Pandora, Faust, the Sorcerer’s Apprentice, Frankenstein, the population bomb, resource depletion, HAL, suitcase nukes, the Y2K bug, and engulfment by nanotechnological grey goo. “A characteristic of AI dystopias,” he points out, “is that they project a parochial alpha-male psychology onto the concept of intelligence. History does turn up the occasional megalomaniacal despot or psychopathic serial killer, but these are products of a history of natural selection shaping testosterone-sensitive circuits in a certain species of primate, not an inevitable feature of intelligent systems.” In the present essay, he applauds Wiener’s belief in the strength of ideas vis-à-vis the encroachment of technology. -
The Strange Survival and Apparent Resurgence of Sociobiology
This is a repository copy of The strange survival and apparent resurgence of sociobiology. White Rose Research Online URL for this paper: http://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/118157/ Version: Accepted Version Article: Dennis, A. orcid.org/0000-0003-4625-1123 (2018) The strange survival and apparent resurgence of sociobiology. History of the Human Sciences, 31 (1). pp. 19-35. ISSN 0952- 6951 https://doi.org/10.1177/0952695117735966 Dennis A. The strange survival and apparent resurgence of sociobiology. History of the Human Sciences. 2018;31(1):19-35. Copyright © 2017 The Author(s). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0952695117735966. Article available under the terms of the CC- BY-NC-ND licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Reuse This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs (CC BY-NC-ND) licence. This licence only allows you to download this work and share it with others as long as you credit the authors, but you can’t change the article in any way or use it commercially. More information and the full terms of the licence here: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/ Takedown If you consider content in White Rose Research Online to be in breach of UK law, please notify us by emailing [email protected] including the URL of the record and the reason for the withdrawal request. [email protected] https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/ The strange survival and apparent resurgence of sociobiology Abstract A recent dispute between Richard Dawkins and Edward O. Wilson concerning fundamental concepts in sociobiology is examined. -
Richard Dawkins
RICHARD DAWKINS HOW A SCIENTIST CHANGED THE WAY WE THINK Reflections by scientists, writers, and philosophers Edited by ALAN GRAFEN AND MARK RIDLEY 1 3 Great Clarendon Street, Oxford ox2 6dp Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide in Oxford New York Auckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto With offices in Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore South Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press in the UK and in certain other countries Published in the United States by Oxford University Press Inc., New York © Oxford University Press 2006 with the exception of To Rise Above © Marek Kohn 2006 and Every Indication of Inadvertent Solicitude © Philip Pullman 2006 The moral rights of the authors have been asserted Database right Oxford University Press (maker) First published 2006 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reprographics rights organization. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should -
A Critical Review of Three Theories for Music's Origin a Thesis Presented
A Critical Review of Three Theories for Music’s Origin A thesis presented to the faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences of Ohio University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master of Arts Kevin W. Kondik March 2010 © 2010 Kevin W. Kondik. All Rights Reserved. 2 This thesis titled A Critical Review of Three Theories for Music’s Origin by KEVIN W. KONDIK has been approved for the Department of Philosophy and the College of Arts and Sciences by Arthur Zucker Associate Professor of Philosophy Benjamin M. Ogles Dean, College of Arts and Sciences 3 ABSTRACT KONDIK, KEVIN, W.,, M.A., March 2010, Philosophy A Critical Review of Three Theories for Music’s Origin (82 pp.) Director of Thesis: Arthur Zucker This thesis compares three theories which debate whether or not the trait of music is constitutive of a biological adaptation. Steven Pinker advances a view that music cannot be an adaptation because making or responding to music utilizes faculties which evolved for other reasons. On the next view, Geoffrey Miller claims that music is a sexually selected trait which evolved primarily to seduce potential mates. Finally, Ian Cross argues that music can be seen as an extension of juvenile behaviors into adulthood and has efficacy in the consolidation of bonds within a group. I conclude that all three theories are insufficient as an explanation of why music evolved in the hominid lineage. The main reasons why these theories all fail is they all rely upon a speculative historical reconstructions and imprecise definitions of music. -
Biological Pluralism in Service of Biolinguistics
Biological pluralism in service of biolinguistics Pedro Tiago Martins1, Evelina Leivada2, Antonio Ben´ıtez-Burraco3, and Cedric Boeckx2,4 1Pompeu Fabra University 2University of Barcelona 3University of Huelva 4Catalan Institute for Advanced Studies Abstract The aim of this chapter is to offer a fresh perspective on what has come to be known as biolinguistics, a term which, in our view, encompasses all research and methods devoted to the unveiling of the biological foundations of human language. More specifically, our aim is twofold: first, we point out some of the shortcomings of the naive view of biology that has been in place in linguistics since the 1950s and 1960s, namely the notion of the faculty of language as a novelty and the sharp distinction between I- and E-language, which, we contend, has not provided any major insights into the biological nature of language; second, we offer some of the insights from biology, which may provide the theoretical and methodological framework which allows for a truly biological study of language, and thus for a re-hauled biolinguistics Chomsky (1957). 1 Introduction The first sign of a biological orientation for the study of language was the work of Noam Chomsky and Eric Lenneberg, among just a few others, who in the 1950s and 1960s rejected the structuralist linguistics of the time, believing instead that languages, despite meticulously described, were not explained as a natural phenomenon. The overarching assumption of their work is that 1 languages are not learned in the conventional sense of the term (i.e. the way one would learn a craft or how to play a musical instrument), but rather a product of a biologically determined and biologically constrained capacity of humans, located in the brain, which must be innate. -
2017 Klaus J. Jacobs Research Prize Recipient Prof. Paul Bloom
2017 Klaus J. Jacobs Research Prize Recipient Prof. Paul Bloom Paul Bloom (Canadian and American, born 1963) is the Brooks and Suzanne Ragen Professor of Psychology and Cognitive Science at Yale University. He was born in Montreal, Canada, and was an undergraduate at McGill University, working with John Macnamara. He did his doctoral work at MIT with Susan Carey and Steven Pinker. He has published in scientific journals such as Nature and Science, and in popular outlets such as The New York Times and The New Yorker. He is the co-editor of the journal Behavioral and Brain Sciences, and the author of several books. Scientific work His research explores how children and adults understand the physical and social world, with special focus on morality, religion, fiction, and art. Much of his research explores moral psychology—looking at morality in babies, developing intuitions about moral responsibility, and the role that feelings such as disgust and empathy play in our moral lives. Bloom argues that humans are in fact born with an innate sense of morality. Drawing on his research at the Infant Cognition Center at Yale University, in collaboration with his colleague and wife, Karen Wynn, he demonstrates that, even before they can speak or walk, babies judge the goodness and badness of others’ actions; feel empathy and compassion; act to soothe those in distress; and have a rudimentary sense of justice. In one of Bloom’s first studies of moral evaluation, he used a three-dimensional display in which real geometrical objects, manipulated like puppets, acted out helping/hindering situations—for instance, a yellow square would help a blue circle up the hill; a red triangle would push it down. -
Language Is Instinct: a New Paradigm in Linguistics
LANGUAGE IS INSTINCT: A NEW PARADIGM IN LINGUISTICS A Thesis Presented to The Faculty of Graduate Studies of The University of Guelph by ALAN BELK In partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree of Master of Arts September, 1998 O Alan Belk 1998 National Library Bibliothèque nationale du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisitions et Bibliographie Services seMces bibliographiques 39!5 WeUingtori Street 395. rue Wellington OttawaON K1AW Ottawa ON K1A ûN4 canada canada The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive licence allowing the exclusive permettant à la National Library of Canada to Bibliothèque nationale du Canada de reproduce, loan, distn'bute or sell reproduire, prêter, disûi'buer ou copies of this thesis in microform, vendre des copies de cette thèse sous paper or electronic formats. la forme de microfiche/nIm, de reproduction sur papier ou sur format électronique. The author retains ownership of the L'auteur conserve la propriété du copyright in this thesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui protège cette thèse. thesis nor substantial extracts fkom it Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or otheNVIse de celle-ci ne doivent Seimprimés reproduced without the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation, LANGUAGE IS INSTINCT: A NEW PARADIGM IN LINGUISTICS Alan Belk Advisor: University of Guelph 1998 Professor Michael Ruse If we can idencify a science, descnbe its paradigm, anomalies and research questions, recognize a cnsis or impending crisis and a cornpeting paradigm, then a revolution as described by Thomas Kuhn (1970) is taking place. Steven Pinker's book The Language Instinct: How the Mind Creares Language is, according to its Preface, intended to explain the current state of knowledge about language. -
Beyond Grammar Linguistics in Language and Writing Courses
Access Provided by Queens College (CUNY) at 08/21/11 6:51PM GMT Beyond Grammar Linguistics in Language and Writing Courses Ann Evans Over the past half century, traditional rule- based prescriptive/proscriptive teaching methods have been largely discarded. Prescriptive pedagogy had seemed so simple — tell the students what to do and have them do it — but students found it boring, and researchers and teachers thought there could be a better way. Usage rules like “don’t split an infinitive” and “never say ‘ain’t’ ” ultimately lose their integrity anyway for two reasons: (1) language is always changing, and (2) commonly accepted usage often does not follow the rules. Certain prescriptive aids are still widely and justifiably used but are no longer the main emphasis in the classroom. Noam Chomsky revolutionized the way we look at language with his book Syntactic Structures (1957). Researchers have since enhanced, chal- lenged, and expanded upon Chomsky’s work in the area of syntax, and still others have advanced our knowledge in related fields such as sociolinguistics, semantics, psycholinguistics, and historical linguistics. The results of this extensive research have not been included in general curricula, nor have they become common knowledge within the larger population. In 1964, M. A. K. Halliday, Angus McIntosh, and Peter Strevens argued that the locus for a more ample, holistic study of language should be the secondary school: “Is our language so poor and uninteresting a thing that we put it in the school curriculum only in order to fight for its lost causes, to pass pathetic judgments on some of its marginal features? We should be Pedagogy: Critical Approaches to Teaching Literature, Language, Composition, and Culture Volume 11, Number 2 doi 10.1215/15314200-1218067 © 2011 by Duke University Press 285 ashamed to let anyone leave our secondary schools knowing so little of how their language works and of the part it plays in our lives” (230). -
The Evolutionary War
Sunday New York Times October 13, 2002, Sunday BOOK REVIEW DESK The Evolutionary War By Robert J. Richards THE BLANK SLATE The Modern Denial of Human Nature. By Steven Pinker. Illustrated. 509 pp. New York: Viking. $27.95. John Watson, the founder in the 1920's of behavioristic psychology, boasted that if he were given an infant at random, he could train him ''to become any type of specialist I might select -- doctor, lawyer, artist, merchant-chief and, yes, even beggar-man and thief, regardless of his talents, penchants, tendencies, abilities, vocations and race of his ancestors.'' His dismissal of anything inborn but a few raw feelings harked back to the philosophical empiricism of John Locke, who denied that the human mind came equipped with innate ideas; mind was a tabula rasa, a blank slate on which experience of the world would write messages. Watson's kind of behaviorism, amended by B. F. Skinner, dominated American psychology in the first half of the 20th century. The scientific community's reaction to the racism of the Nazis reinforced the doctrine; and events during the civil rights movement and the Vietnam years cautioned even evolutionary biologists about supposing that humans had been subjected to the kinds of forces that mold animal mind and behavior. The logic of evolutionary theory, however, seemed inexorable. Humans are, after all, animals. No magic moment occurs when souls rain down on waiting primate bodies to wash away all signs of brute origin. In the 70's, E. O. Wilson developed this logic with the support of a wide range of animal studies and anthropological reports about societies still following traditional ways.