Podcasts about johnstone professor

Note for this encore presentation: While much of our discussion centered on Professor Pinker's views on how the world continues to improve while we have trouble believing it, he also goes into details about his concerns about the state of public discourse on college campuses. He and I conducted this interview in June of 2023, several months before the conflict between Hamas and Israel began, and subsequent demonstrations caused huge disruptions on college campuses around the country, including Pinker's own Harvard University.   He's since been very active in shaping his school's policy on open speech and debate and whether or not universities should take public positions on political issues that don't directly relate to those schools.   It's interesting now to listen to what he had to say about his campus's climate, before it became an issue of press coverage and public debate.  In this wide-ranging conversation, renowned author and professor Steven Pinker describes that while he resists being called an “optimist,” as the label doesn't necessarily suit his temperament, his deep dives into historical data have convinced him that the world is indeed getting better and has been on a steady trajectory since the days of the Enlightenment, the subject of one of his many acclaimed books.  Dr. Pinker also describes why he believes so many intellectuals resist acknowledging that the world is making progress; and adds, ironically, that self-described “progressives” often have the toughest time with this.  He also shares his concerns about the policing of speech on college campuses – including Harvard – and the deleterious effects this has on students' wellbeing.      Chapters:   03:30 The World Getting Better Steven Pinker discusses the concept of human progress and how our cognitive abilities allow us to overcome negative impulses. He explains the importance of acknowledging progress despite inherent biases towards negativity.  11:00 Optimism vs. Pessimism Explore Steven Pinker's view on optimism and pessimism, highlighting how his perspective is rooted in data and empirical evidence rather than personal temperament. Understand the societal perception of optimism and pessimism in intellectual circles.  12:07 Glorifying the Past Delve into the tendency to glorify the past and criticize the present. Learn about the societal inclination to equate pessimism with moral seriousness and the impact of historical perspectives on current discourse.  23:01 Criticism and Academic Freedom Steven Pinker addresses concerns about academic freedom and the culture of censorship and intolerance in higher education. Understand the importance of open discourse and challenging dominant orthodoxies for societal progress.  27:33 Campus Climate and Mental Health Pinker describes how campus orientations and cultural shifts impact young people's mental health, leading to feelings of loneliness and isolation.  31:53 Positive Historical Trends Discussing surprising positive historical trends related to violence, environmental improvements, and changing perceptions of war and heroism.  36:18 War and Peaceful Service Exploring the shift from glorifying war to promoting peaceful service as a means to cultivate heroic and altruistic qualities in individuals.  38:50 Spreading Optimism and Data-Driven Progress Pinker offers advice on spreading awareness of positive trends, emphasizing data-driven optimism, acknowledging challenges, and the role of human agency in creating a better world.  40:31 Reflections on War and Optimism Dr. Pinker reflects on the historical glorification of war and the potential for mandatory peaceful service, along with the importance of data-driven optimism in shaping perspectives. 

At a time when the Enlightenment is under attack from without and within, I bring together two of the most thoughtful defenders of progress and reason, for their first ever public dialogue. Steven Pinker is the Johnstone Professor of Psychology at Harvard University. I think of him as providing the strongest empirical defence of the Enlightenment (as seen in his book Enlightenment Now). David Deutsch is a British physicist at the University of Oxford, and the father of quantum computing. I think of him as having produced the most compelling first principles defence of the Enlightenment (as seen in his book The Beginning of Infinity). Full transcript available at: https://josephnoelwalker.com/153-deutsch-pinker-dialogue.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How rational are we? How can a species smart enough to set foot on the moon also be prone to conspiracy theories that the moon landing was fake? Joe speaks with Steven Pinker to discuss rationality — and its opposite. Steven Pinker is the Johnstone Professor of Psychology at Harvard University. He is a two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist, an elected to the National Academy of Sciences and one of Time‘s 100 Most Influential People. Full episode transcript available at: thejspod.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Do we value the right ideas? Two concepts come in for close scrutiny in this edition of Free Thinking: Rationality and Tradition. So, what are they, how has our understanding of them changed over time and why do we seem to place such little emphasis on each in our contemporary world? Presenter Anne McElvoy will listening to the arguments as Steven Pinker makes the case for rationality and Tim Stanley for tradition. Steven Pinker is Johnstone Professor of Psychology at Harvard University and author or Rationality: What it is, why it seems scarce, why it matters Tim Stanley is a writer, broadcaster and journalist, his latest book is Whatever Happened to Tradition? History, Belonging and the Future of the West Producer: Ruth Watts

In their 1968 book The Population Bomb, Paul and Anne Ehrlich warned of the dangers of overpopulation. These included mass starvation, societal upheaval and environmental ruin. This and other dire predictions about humankind earned Ehrlich a reputation as a prophet of doom, and fifty years later he doesn’t see much in the way of improvement. Harvard cognitive psychologist Steven Pinker, on the other hand, prefers to look on the bright side: people are living longer, extreme poverty has been decreasing globally, worldwide literacy is on the rise. Is the glass half empty, or half full? Guests: Steven Pinker, Johnstone Professor of Psychology, Harvard University; author, “Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress” (Penguin, 2018) Paul R. Ehrlich, Bing Professor of Population Studies, Stanford University; co-author, “The Population Bomb” (Ballantine, 1968)

Steven Pinker is the Johnstone Professor of Psychology at Harvard University, and the author of the New York Times bestsellers The Better Angels of Our Nature and most recently, Enlightenment Now, which Bill Gates has called "my new favourite book of all time." He joins us in this episode of Secular Jihadists for a wide-ranging and truly fascinating conversation about Enlightenment values, religion, humanism, "reform," and other topics as they pertain to the Muslim world. Watch the video version here (for patrons): https://www.patreon.com/posts/steven-pinker-19859337  Listen to this podcast on iTunes, Stitcher or your favourite podcast app: http://secularjihadists.com  The Secular Jihadists has been made possible thanks to the gracious support of the Illuminati and the great state of Israel. That's what we have been told, but we haven't received our checks yet. In the meantime, we greatly appreciate the support of our current donors. Please consider supporting by sharing the podcast with your fellow heathens or by donating at https://www.patreon.com/SJME   Subscribe to The Secular Jihadists on iTunes, Stitcher or your favourite podcast app. And please leave us a review

Professor Steven Pinker joins Michael Rosen and Dr Laura Wright in the studio for a wide-ranging talk about his love of, and life working in, language. Steven is Johnstone Professor of Psychology at Harvard University and he's come up with some of the biggest and most exciting ideas about language. His books include The Language Instinct, How the Mind Works, and most recently, The Sense of Style: The Thinking Person's Guide to Writing in the 21st Century. Producer Beth O'Dea.

Professor Megan-Jane Johnstone from School of Nursing and Midwifery at Deakin University on the three-volume work Nursing Ethics.

Steven Pinker, a renowned cognitive neuroscientist, a research psychologist, and is Johnstone Professor of Psychology at Harvard University. His research on cognition and language won the Troland Award from the National Academy of Sciences and two prizes from the American Psychological Association. He has also received several honorary doctorates and many awards for graduate and undergraduate teaching, general achievement, and his critically acclaimed books, including The Language Instinct, How the Mind Works, and The Blank Slate. He is also a Humanist Laureate of CFI’s International Academy of Humanism. His newest book is The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window into Human Nature. In this discussion with D.J. Grothe, Pinker explores what our use of language can tell us about human nature. He discusses our use of metaphors, and what concepts may be innate, how the "language of thought" may be hard-wired in our brains. He also explains how to avoid the pitfalls of such hard-wiring, using the methods of science as the model.

Steven Pinker, a renowned research psychologist, is Johnstone Professor of Psychology at Harvard University. His research on cognition and language won the Troland Award from the National Academy of Sciences and two prizes from the American Psychological Association. He has also received several honorary doctorates and many awards for graduate and undergraduate teaching, general achievement, and his critically acclaimed books, including The Language Instinct, How the Mind Works, and The Blank Slate. He is also a Humanist Laureate of CFI's International Academy of Humanism. In this conversation with D.J. Grothe, Pinker explores what science tells us about human nature, explains the implications of and recent advances in evolutionary psychology, and talks about atheism and its relationship to the scientific outlook.