TakeOnIt
Compare opinions of world leading experts and influencers.

Steven Pinker

Psychology Professor

Steven Pinker is a professor of psychology at Harvard University. Until 2003, he taught in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences at MIT. He conducts research on language and cognition, writes for publications such as the New York Times, Time, and Slate, and is the author of seven books, including The Language Instinct, How the Mind Works, Words and Rules, The Blank Slate, and most recently, The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window into Human Nature.

Experts Most Alike:

Richard Dawkins   Evolutionary Biologist, Writer, Atheism Activist 91% Agreement / 3

Experts Least Alike:

Barack Obama   United States President 50% Agreement / 3
Osama Bin Laden   Leader of Al Qaeda 12% Agreement / 2

Steven Pinker's Opinions

Neutral
How can I be so confident that consciousness is secreted by the brain tissue in my skull, rather than lurking in the software that my brain is running? ... Perhaps the human mind, a mere product of evolution [...], is biologically incapable of understanding the solution. If so, our invention the computer would present us with the ultimate tease. Never mind whether a computer can be conscious. Our [own] consciousness, the most obvious thing there is, may be forever beyond our conceptual grasp.
18 Aug 1997    Source


God

Mostly Disagree
My criticism of religion [...] was defensive, meant to counter the argument that morality can only come from a belief in a soul that accepts God's purpose and is rewarded or punished in an afterlife. I think the evidence suggests that this doctrine is false both logically and factually. I don't make a point of criticizing religion in general. Some hard-headed biologists and evolutionary theorists believe that an abstract conception of a divine power is consistent with conventional Darwinism.
30 Oct 2002    Source


Neutral
To sum up. The universal propensity toward religious beliefs a genuine scientific puzzle. But many adaptationist explanations for religion, such as the one featured in Time last week, don't, I think, meet the criteria for adaptations. There is an alternative explanation, namely that religious psychology is a by-product of many parts of the mind that evolved for other purposes.
29 Oct 2004    Source


Disagree
The moral design of nature is as bungled as its engineering design. What twisted sadist would have invented a parasite that blinds millions of people or a gene that covers babies with excruciating blisters? To adapt a Yiddish expression about God: If an intelligent designer lived on Earth, people would break his windows.
07 Aug 2005    Source


Agree
It's natural to think that living things must be the handiwork of a designer. But it was also natural to think that the sun went around the earth. Overcoming naive impressions to figure out how things really work is one of humanity's highest callings. Our own bodies are riddled with quirks that no competent engineer would have planned but that disclose a history of trial-and-error tinkering: a retina installed backward, ... goose bumps that uselessly try to warm us by fluffing up long-gone fur.
07 Aug 2005    Source


Disagree
Many people who accept evolution still feel that a belief in God is necessary to give life meaning and to justify morality. But that is exactly backward. In practice, religion has given us stonings, inquisitions and 9/11. Morality comes from a commitment to treat others as we wish to be treated, which follows from the realization that none of us is the sole occupant of the universe. Like physical evolution, it does not require a white-coated technician in the sky.
07 Aug 2005    Source


Disagree
There is not the slightest reason to believe in a coming singularity. The fact that you can visualize a future in your imagination is not evidence that it is likely or even possible. Look at domed cities, jet-pack commuting, underwater cities, mile-high buildings, and nuclear-powered automobiles--all staples of futuristic fantasies when I was a child that have never arrived. Sheer processing power is not a pixie dust that magically solves all your problems.
01 Jun 2008    Source


Mostly Disagree
...I think politicians have low credibility because our institutions at present don't reward truth-telling among them. Quite the contrary. It's easy to get away with blatant lies and misleading euphemism and doublespeak. So the incentive structure favors bending the truth among politicians, more so than one finds in the institutions of science.
01 Sep 2008    Source


Comparisons to Other Experts

Agree
Richard Dawkins
Evolutionary Biologist, Writer, Atheism Activist
91% / 3 opinions

Jeff Hawkins
Neuroscientist, Inventor of Palm Pilot
87% / 2 opinions

Bryan Caplan
Economics Professor
100% / 1 opinions

James M. Buchanan
Nobel Laureate in Economics
100% / 1 opinions

Steven Weinberg
Nobel Laureate in Physics
100% / 1 opinions

Elton John
Musician, Pop Icon
100% / 1 opinions

David Runciman
Politics Professor
100% / 1 opinions

L. Ron Hubbard
Founder of Scientology
100% / 1 opinions

Mostly Agree
Bill Maher
Political T.V. Host, Comedian
62% / 2 opinions

Albert Einstein
Physicist, Icon of the 20th Century
62% / 2 opinions

Eliezer Yudkowsky
Artificial Intelligence Researcher
62% / 2 opinions

In-Between
Barack Obama
United States President
50% / 3 opinions

Napoleon Bonaparte
Emperor of France
50% / 2 opinions

Douglas Hofstadter
Professor of Cognitive Science
50% / 1 opinions

John Searle
Philosophy Professor
50% / 1 opinions

John Polkinghorne
Physics Professor and Reverend
50% / 1 opinions

Alan Turing
Father of Computer Science
50% / 1 opinions

William Dembski
Intelligent Design Theorist
50% / 1 opinions

Dean Hamer
Geneticist
50% / 1 opinions

Mostly Disagree
Robin Hanson
Economics Professor
37% / 2 opinions

Oprah Winfrey
Talk Show Host
25% / 1 opinions

Ludwig Wittgenstein
Iconic Philosopher of 20th Century
25% / 1 opinions

Disagree
Osama Bin Laden
Leader of Al Qaeda
12% / 2 opinions

The Catholic Church
Largest Christian Church
0% / 2 opinions

Ray Kurzweil
Inventor, Artificial Intelligence Researcher
0% / 1 opinions

Kent Hovind
Celebrity Creationist
0% / 1 opinions

Andrew Newberg
Professor of Medicine, Psychiatry & Religion
0% / 1 opinions

Albert Mohler
President, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
0% / 1 opinions

C.S. Lewis
Author, Professor of Literature
0% / 1 opinions

Ann Coulter
Political Commentator
0% / 1 opinions