Tag: Steven Pinker
-
Nation & World
One way of putting it
Harvard scholars offer their picks for the word that sums up 2023
-
Nation & World
Should we be worried about rising heat of political discourse? Yes.
Some analysts fear it could lead to violence; others note nation has had other worrisome periods; all agree it’s not a good trend for democracy.
-
Nation & World
‘Moral breakdown is a fake problem’
In new study, experimental psychologist takes on the stubborn perception of declining morality.
-
Nation & World
Oliver Stone wants you to reconsider nuclear power
In a Harvard talk following a preview of his new documentary, the director debates nuclear energy’s merits as a climate change solution.
-
Nation & World
Will ChatGPT supplant us as writers, thinkers?
Psychologist says the chatbot is impressive — and may offer insights into the nature of human intelligence once it “stops making stuff up.”
-
Nation & World
Hollywood’s messaging problem: Sometimes people feel insulted
Experts took a virtual look at the role of satire in pushing climate change action, with reviews mixed on a recent film.
-
Nation & World
Pinker tries Wordle
Language expert Steven Pinker explores how the brain tries to make sense of those pesky missing tiles in the popular word puzzle.
-
Nation & World
Enough with the quackery, Pinker says
Steven Pinker thinks “we will always need to push back against our own irrationality,” but that education, democracy, science, and journalism, along with an awareness of our individual biases, can help us embrace a more rational approach to everyday issues.
-
Nation & World
Why doesn’t rationality seem to matter anymore?
Rationality can be fixed, Steven Pinker argues, and if we don’t our democracy and environment may be at stake.
-
Nation & World
Where were you when it happened?
Faculty and staff from across the University recall where they were on September 11, 2001, and how they think about the attacks 20 years later.
-
Nation & World
An instrumental scientist
Jerome Kagan taught at Harvard for 36 years. He died May 10.
-
Nation & World
Seeded amid the many surprises of COVID times, some unexpected positives
We ask experts in the fields of medicine, biology, public health, education, religion about the unexpected upsides in the coronavirus pandemic.
-
Nation & World
After a hard election, the real work begins
Harvard University scholars, analysts, and affiliates take a look at what the election tells us about the prospects for greater unity and progress, and offer suggestions and predictions about where the new administration will, and should, go.
-
Nation & World
The problems (and promise) of polling
It seems political polls may have again missed the mark, but a range of Harvard experts warn the truth is much more complicated.
-
Nation & World
Wither the handshake?
Long-held habits have disappeared overnight as social distancing has become the new normal in the age of the novel coronavirus. What about the handshake?
-
Nation & World
Impeachment: What this means, where this leads
To gain a better understanding of the issues in play following the House impeachment of President Donald Trump, the Gazette asked Harvard faculty and affiliates in history, law, politics, government, psychology, and media to offer their thoughts.
-
Nation & World
One thing to change: Anecdotes aren’t data
Steven Pinker, the Johnstone Family Professor of Psychology, points to a number of instances where the use of anecdotes over data creates a false narrative.
-
Nation & World
Is anybody out there?
SETI astronomer Jill Tarter was among the speakers at this year’s Radcliffe science symposium, “The Undiscovered.”
-
Nation & World
Stories that haunt them
In the days before Halloween, we asked Min Jin Lee, Maria Tatar, and other serious campus readers to share with us the stories that have scared them most — and why.
-
Nation & World
Praise, optimism in reaction to Bacow choice
Members of the Harvard community weighed in with their thoughts Monday on the selection of former Tufts University president Lawrence S. Bacow as Harvard’s next leader.
-
Nation & World
Office hours: 6 realities
The Gazette asked six Harvard professors for their thoughts on why few students attend office hours, ways to improve attendance, and what students are missing when they skip office hours.
-
Nation & World
Giving ‘good’ a rigorous inspection
Harvard scholars Joshua Greene and Steven Pinker were joined by Princeton philosopher Peter Singer in a conversation examining how to be moral — and happy.
-
Nation & World
Don’t think twice, it’s all right
Harvard scholars weigh in on Bob Dylan’s Nobel for literature
-
Nation & World
Unhand that comma!
Harvard wordsmiths Jill Abramson and Steven Pinker answered questions from the Gazette to mark National Punctuation Day.
-
Nation & World
Faculty elected to National Academy of Sciences
Five Harvard faculty members were elected to the National Academy of Arts and Sciences.
-
Nation & World
Violence in streets, hope in the data
While the daily news conveys a world beset by horrific acts of terrorism, brutal civil war, and frequent mass shootings, Professor Steven Pinker brought a hopeful message to a talk at Emerson Hall, saying global violence is actually in decline.
-
Nation & World
Arts First, and at center
Arts First, Harvard’s spring weekend festival, embraces creativity, audience participation.
-
Nation & World
Bringing sanity to clarity
Professor Steven Pinker talks about his latest book, “The Sense of Style: The Thinking Person’s Guide to Writing in the 21st Century.”
-
Nation & World
Understanding common knowledge
A new study examines how different kinds of shared beliefs can affect how people cooperate, and how people use common knowledge, a type of shared understanding, to coordinate their actions.