Steven Pinker

Steven Pinker is an internationally renowned experimental psychologist, cognitive scientist, and popular science writer. He is a professor at Harvard University, where he has taught since 2003. He is the author of several books, including The Language Instinct, How the Mind Works, and The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined.

Pinker's research focuses on language and cognition, and he is the chair of the Usage Panel of the American Heritage Dictionary. He is also a contributing editor for The New Republic, and he is a frequent commentator on popular science topics in newspapers and magazines.

Pinker was born in Montreal, Canada, in 1954. He received his B.A. from McGill University in 1976 and his Ph.D. in psychology from Harvard University in 1979. He has received numerous awards and honors, including the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction in 2018 for his book, The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined.

Pinker's research has been highly influential in the fields of linguistics, cognitive science, and evolutionary psychology. He has written extensively on the evolution of language, the nature of the mind, and the power of reason. He has also written on the topics of human intelligence, morality, beauty, and violence.

Pinker has argued that evolutionary forces largely shape human intelligence and that the human mind is a complex set of mental modules. He has also argued that reason can be used to solve moral dilemmas and that violence has declined over time due to the spread of reason.

Pinker's work has been widely praised by academics and intellectuals, and he has been described as one of the leading public intellectuals of our time. His books have been translated into dozens of languages, and they have sold millions of copies. He has appeared on numerous television shows and has been the subject of multiple documentaries.

In addition to his academic and popular writing, Pinker is also an active public speaker. He frequently lectures on scientific topics and has appeared as a guest on talk shows and news programs. He has been featured in numerous films, including the documentary film The Edge of Reason, which was nominated for an Academy Award in 2016.

Pinker is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is also a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and the American Philosophical Society. He has been awarded numerous honorary degrees, including doctorates from the Universities of Toronto, Harvard, and Oxford.