A Conversation With Steven Pinker - Writing In The 21st Century

What are the arts but products of the human mind which resonate with our aesthetic and emotional faculties? What are social issues, but ways in which humans try to coordinate their behavior and come to working arrangements that benefit everyone? There's no aspect of life that cannot be illuminated by a better understanding of the mind from scientific psychology. And for me the most recent example is the process of writing itself.

[aSliceofHumanNature]

Thanks for posting this. Poor quality audio, but an excellent example of Pinker speaking adeptly about so many different topics. A gem of a recording, nice one for posting it

[davevallee]

The purple tie worn by the speaker was beautiful. The tie that the speaker wore was purple, and therefore beautiful. The speaker wore a purple tie that was beautiful. Purple, the color of the tie that the speaker wore, was beautiful. Had the speaker worn a tie that was not purple, it would have been less beautiful, regardless of its color. Purple is the best color that the speaker could have chosen for a tie.
Therefore, professor Pinker could not have worn a tie that was more beautiful, by virtue of its color, than the purple one he chose to wear.