“There is a fundamental split between two mindsets… is it that society is like a diseased patient where a bunch of medical professionals try to diagnose the cause of the problems and try to treat them, or do you think the world is like a zero sum conflict and that problems come from the evil actions of oppressors.”
Steven Pinker addresses humanists about the nature of mind and the resultant challenge to our times
“There is a fundamental split between two mindsets… is it that society is like a diseased patient where a bunch of medical professionals try to diagnose the cause of the problems and try to treat them, or do you think the world is like a zero sum conflict and that problems come from the evil actions of oppressors.” (Steven Pinker, 41:16)
In this podcast interview humanist Steven Pinker discusses his work on rationality, human progress, and the interplay of nature and nurture from the perspective of cognitive psychology. In the process Pinker sheds light on the reasons behind the fragmented and polarized discourse that has lead to political correctness, cancel culture and the censoring of opposing viewpoints. Pinker is interviewed in this podcast by Canadian Humanist Publications and New Enlightenment Project board member Lloyd Hawkeye Robertson and by Centre for Inquiry Canada board member Leslie Rosenblood.
Main photo from Bhaawest, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
