Steven Pinker: Linguistics as a Window to Understanding the Brain | Big Think

In this lecture, Steven Pinker, renowned linguist and Harvard Psychology Professor, discusses linguistics as a window to understanding the human brain.
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How is it that human beings have come to acquire language? Steven Pinker's introduction to the field includes thoughts on the evolution of spoken language and the debate over the existence of an innate universal grammar, as well as an exploration of why language is such a fundamental part of social relationships, human biology, and human evolution. Finally, Pinker touches on the wide variety of applications for linguistics, from improving how we teach reading and writing to how we interpret law, politics, and literature.

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Steven Pinker is an experimental psychologist who conducts research in visual cognition, psycholinguistics, and social relations. He grew up in Montreal and earned his BA from McGill and his PhD from Harvard. Currently Johnstone Professor of Psychology at Harvard, he has also taught at Stanford and MIT. He has won numerous prizes for his research, his teaching, and his nine books, including The Language Instinct, How the Mind Works, The Blank Slate, The Better Angels of Our Nature, The Sense of Style, and Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress.
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TRANSCRIPT:

[RecordableID]

It is also a miracle that I'm able to watch such a well designed lecture by a renowned professor liguistics on the internet FOR FREE! It's a great time to be alive.

[Kapiwolf]

there's something very pleasant in hearing Mr. Steven Pinker saying "he be workin"

[marixsa]

This lecture can never get old, this man is a king; I love how he express in detail and clearly.

[helimax]

I love how clearly this man thinks. Its clarity layed gently onto silence. Like listening to a pure chime from one of those Tibetan buddhist singning bowls. 

[barborahegedusova]

I can't appreciate enough how well structured this video is. It's so easy to understand concepts and connections among them.

[_GandalfTheGrey_]

I majored in linguistics and although Dr. Pinker is not a pure linguist, he gives one of the best and most accessible descriptions of a brief overview of linguistics. Truly an amazing subject and it is such a disappointment that there are no linguistics classes in any high school in the world pretty much. A class in linguistics, even just a class in syntax, would help so many more people be able to learn new languages quickly and efficiently. Not just that, but more people would have a deep understanding of themselves and others.

[fullyawakened]

Professor Pinker just made the entire history of linguistics seem like a 101 class.  Nicely done.

[nateellenberger]

I absolutely love the way Steven explains things in his lectures. He doesn't over express words that don't need to be to show his intelligence. Profess Pinker is a brilliant man and awesome teacher.

[denheart]

This professor is really creative and productive to his presentation. He has a deep understanding on how language exists. I am amazed and inspired.

[whollyone]

30 mins in and I'm just wondering if he's ever going to stand behind the podium

[GuyMichaely]

Steven Pinker: "I'm actually not a linguist"
Description: "Steven Pinker, renowned linguist..."

[MaximQuantum]

Most of us, including me, don’t value enough the fact that so much information is shared on the internet for free! I just watch them for entertainment without realising how much I’ve actually learnt, and how much more I could have learnt with a more educational mindset. Thank you!

[Ana_crusis]

well I listened to the stream of noises Pinker made and i found them quite agreeable, so I thought I'd make some odd black marks in this box.

[SolusBatty]

We live in a great age, Big Think and free and quick exchange of information is just amazing. To have, in this instance, 30 years of (basic) knowledge of linguistics summarized in an hour long video, truly spectacular. :) You have my thanks. 

[jonahansen]

Pinker is a great explainer. He comes up with fantastic examples for all his key but perhaps counterintuitive ideas and points. Love it.

[iphoneusdsd]

Learned more from this video than all of semester lectures...

[wjckc]

This is excellent. Structural linguistics is my favourite subject. I will be going back over this while taking notes to fill in the many blanks I am discovering. This video will influence future book purchases.

[sigitaskrebena]

As a translator and language enthusiast I found this VERY fascinating! So glad I found this video!

[badarock]

This was truly awesome. It flows. Very well constructed. My first language is Portugese but I could understant everything and relate to the content. Beautiful. I'll watch it again in the future. The more I learn, the more I can teach. Thank you so much.

[TeresaGonzalez-jtmv]

Maravillosa síntesis de la teoría lingüística! El ejemplo del bebé es muy bueno. Un niño que solo balbucea puede indicar con el dedo algo que quiere, emitir un sonido que aún no es lengua y expresar un deseo, antes de ser capaz de usar una oración completa y con sentido: un tipo de pensamiento, que ya discrimina la realidad, pero no en palabras. Muy buen video. Que suerte tienen algunos de ustedes que lo tuvieron de profesor