Language Cognition And Human Nature Selected Articles
Language Cognition And Human Nature Selected Articles by Steven Pinker is a 2013 Environment & Sustainability book written by TED speaker Steven Pinker, paired here with the talk they gave.
The pairing
- Paired talk: "Is the world getting better or worse? A look at the numbers" (2018), 4.8M views on TED.com
- Timing: Published 5 years before the talk.
- In the catalogue: The 10th of 14 books by Steven Pinker on Books Worth Reading (1986–2025), by publication year.
- Edition: Oxford University Press, 2013 · 378 pages
The paired TED talk
Is the world getting better or worse? A look at the numbers (2018), the TED talk by Steven Pinker.
From the publisher
Pinker's seminal research explores the workings of language and its connections to cognition, perception, social relationships, child development, human evolution, and theories of human nature. This eclectic collection spans Pinker's thirty-year career, exploring his favorite themes in greater depth and scientific detail. It includes thirteen of Pinker's classic articles, ranging over topics such as language development in children, mental imagery, the recognition of shapes, the computational architecture of the mind, the meaning and uses of verbs, the evolution of language and cognition, the nature-nurture debate, and the logic of innuendo and euphemism. Each outlines a major theory or takes up an argument with another prominent scholar, such as Stephen Jay Gould, Noam Chomsky, or Richard Dawkins.