New Releases by Steven Pinker

Steven Pinker, autor bestseller de En defensa de la Ilustración, presenta un libro en el que explora el poder del conocimiento común: esa forma de saber compartido que permite coordinar acciones, prever crisis sociales y actuar con inteligencia en un mundo interconectado. Como científico cognitivo, lo que más fascina a Steven Pinker es cómo pensamos sobre cómo piensan los demás sobre cómo piensan los demás, y, así, ad infinitum. Suena imposible, pero Pinker demuestra que lo hacemos constantemente. Esta conciencia, que experimentamos como algo público o que viene «de ahí fuera», se denomina conocimiento común y tiene un impacto trascendental en nuestras vidas sociales, políticas y económicas. Pinker demuestra que el conocimiento común puede dar sentido a muchos de los enigmas de la vida: las burbujas y las crisis financieras, las revoluciones que surgen de la nada, las posturas y las simulaciones de la diplomacia, la irrupción de las multitudes que denuncian por redes sociales y de la cultura de cancelación académica, la incomodidad de una primera cita. Pero las personas también hacen todo lo posible por evitar el conocimiento común, para asegurarse de que, aunque todos sepan algo, no puedan saber que todos los demás saben que ellos lo saben. Y así surgen rituales como la hipocresía benigna, los sobornos y las amenazas velados, las insinuaciones sexuales o el autoengaño de no ver lo que es evidente. Al explorar las paradojas del comportamiento humano, Cuando todos saben que todos lo saben... nos invita a comprender las maneras en las que intentamos meternos en la cabeza de los demás, y la armonía, la hipocresía y la indignación que se derivan de ello.

"From one of the world''s most celebrated intellectuals, a brilliantly insightful work that explains how we think about each other''s thoughts about each other''s thoughts, ad infinitum. It sounds impossible, but Steven Pinker shows that we do it all the time. This awareness, which we experience as something that is public or "out there," is called common knowledge, and it has a momentous impact on our social, political, and economic lives"--

''One of the most insightful books I’ve read about what makes us human and how we understand each other'' Bill Gates Steven Pinker, one of the world''s greatest thinkers and bestselling author of Enlightenment Now, The Better Angels of Our Nature and The Language Instinct, reveals the power and perils of thinking alike As a cognitive scientist, the ultimate subject of Steven Pinker’s fascination is how we think about each other’s thoughts, ad infinitum. It sounds impossible, but Steven Pinker shows that we do it all the time. This awareness, which we experience as something that is public or “out there,” is called common knowledge, and it has a momentous impact on our social, political, and economic lives. Common knowledge, Pinker shows, can make sense of many of life’s enigmas: financial bubbles and crashes, revolutions that come out of nowhere, the posturing and pretence of diplomacy, the eruption of social media shaming mobs and academic cancel culture, the awkwardness of a first date. But people also go to great lengths to avoid common knowledge—to ensure that even if everyone knows something, they can’t know that everyone else knows they know it. And so we get rituals like benign hypocrisy, veiled bribes and threats, sexual innuendo, and pretending not to see the elephant in the room. In exploring the paradoxes of human behaviour, When Everyone Knows that Everyone Knows... invites us to understand the ways we try to get into each other’s heads, and the harmonies, hypocrisies, and outrages that result.

Waarom schrijven zoveel mensen zo slecht? Nee, het ligt niet aan internet en onze kinderen worden ook niet dommer: schrijven is altijd moeilijk geweest. Goed schrijven begint bij goed denken. Als je weet wát je wilt schrijven, is het een kwestie van regels toepassen. Maar met behoud van moed, creativiteit – en een dosis brutaliteit. In dit geestige en zeer nuttige boek stelt Steven Pinker op nuchtere wijze vast aan welke regels goed schrijven in deze tijd zou moeten voldoen. Als geen ander is hij degene van wie we dit kunnen aannemen; Pinker is een briljant taalkundige en een invloedrijke cognitief psycholoog. Iemand, kortom, die het effect van taal op de geest kent, en weet dat alles begint bij zorgvuldig denken en een grote verbeelding.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER “In our uncertain age, which can so often feel so dark and disturbing, Steven Pinker has distinguished himself as a voice of positivity.” – New York Times Can reading a book make you more rational? Can it help us understand why there is so much irrationality in the world? Steven Pinker, author of Enlightenment Now (Bill Gates’s "new favorite book of all time”) answers all the questions here Today humanity is reaching new heights of scientific understanding--and also appears to be losing its mind. How can a species that developed vaccines for Covid-19 in less than a year produce so much fake news, medical quackery, and conspiracy theorizing? Pinker rejects the cynical cliché that humans are simply irrational--cavemen out of time saddled with biases, fallacies, and illusions. After all, we discovered the laws of nature, lengthened and enriched our lives, and set out the benchmarks for rationality itself. We actually think in ways that are sensible in the low-tech contexts in which we spend most of our lives, but fail to take advantage of the powerful tools of reasoning we’ve discovered over the millennia: logic, critical thinking, probability, correlation and causation, and optimal ways to update beliefs and commit to choices individually and with others. These tools are not a standard part of our education, and have never been presented clearly and entertainingly in a single book--until now. Rationality also explores its opposite: how the rational pursuit of self-interest, sectarian solidarity, and uplifting mythology can add up to crippling irrationality in a society. Collective rationality depends on norms that are explicitly designed to promote objectivity and truth. Rationality matters. It leads to better choices in our lives and in the public sphere, and is the ultimate driver of social justice and moral progress. Brimming with Pinker’s customary insight and humor, Rationality will enlighten, inspire, and empower.

«La razionalità dovrebbe essere la nostra stella polare in tutto ciò che pensiamo e facciamo. Eppure, in un''epoca benedetta da risorse senza precedenti per il ragionamento, la sfera pubblica è infestata da fake news, terapie di ciarlatani, teorie del complotto e una retorica della "postverità".» Com''è possibile? La domanda è urgente e, da scienziato cognitivo, Steven Pinker rifiuta il cinico cliché secondo cui noi esseri umani siamo semplicemente irrazionali, cavernicoli fuori tempo gravati di bias, fallacie e illusioni. Perché è la razionalità a distinguerci da tutti gli altri esseri viventi. «La nostra specie ha datato l''origine dell''universo, scandagliato la natura della materia e dell''energia, decifrato i segreti della vita, dipanato i circuiti della coscienza e documentato la nostra storia e diversità. Abbiamo applicato queste conoscenze per accrescere la nostra prosperità, alleviando i flagelli che hanno tormentato i nostri antenati per la maggior parte dell''esistenza umana. Abbiamo posticipato il nostro previsto appuntamento con la morte.» Tuttavia, non riusciamo ad approfittare pienamente dei potenti strumenti del ragionamento che abbiamo imparato a conoscere nel corso dei millenni. In questo libro, Pinker guida quindi il lettore attraverso le basi della logica e del pensiero critico, la probabilità, il rapporto tra correlazione e causazione, la teoria statistica delle decisioni, il ragionamento bayesiano, le comuni fallacie logiche e statistiche. Affronta argomenti complessi che di rado capita di approfondire come meritano, li espone con eleganza, rigore ed estrema chiarezza, offrendo straordinari spunti di riflessione, ispirazione e arricchimento. Destreggiandosi tra le «ragioni» dell''irrazionalità e quelle della ragione, Pinker ci dimostra quanto la razionalità sia importante, non solo perché ci porta a compiere scelte più vantaggiose per la nostra vita e nella sfera pubblica, ma anche perché rappresenta il vero e insostituibile motore della giustizia sociale e del progresso morale.

Nesta obra, Steven Pinker apresenta-nos uma vasta panorâmica dos progressos da Humanidade: hoje vivemos mais anos, com recurso a melhores meios de saúde, somos mais livres e felizes. E embora os problemas com que nos confrontamos sejam tremendos, é possível encontrar soluções no ideal do Iluminismo: o uso da razão e da ciência. Estará o mundo a desmoronar-se? Estará obsoleto o ideal do progresso? Numa original avaliação da condição humana no terceiro milénio, o autor estimula-nos a enjeitar as notícias alarmistas e as profecias da desgraça que influenciam a nossa visão do mundo. Pinker demonstra-nos que a vida, a saúde, a prosperidade, a segurança, a paz, o conhecimento e a felicidade estão em ascensão, não só no Ocidente mas também à escala global. Este progresso não é o resultado de uma força cósmica. É uma herança do Iluminismo: a convicção de que a razão e a ciência impulsionam o florescimento humano. Longe de ser uma esperança vã, sabemo-lo agora, o Iluminismo funcionou realmente. E agora, mais do que nunca, é necessário que o defendamos com vigor. Com grande profundidade intelectual e uma escrita excecional, esta obra defende a razão, a ciência e o humanismo - os ideais de que precisamos para enfrentar os problemas dos nossos dias e dar continuidade ao progresso. O livro favorito de Bill Gates. Bestseller do The New York Times e #1 na pré-venda Amazon.es.

Tényleg darabokra hullik a világ? A haladás eszméje idejétmúlt? A harmadik évezred emberi állapotának ebben az elegáns körüljárásában a kogníciókutató és közéleti értelmiségi Steven Pinker arra biztat bennünket, hogy szemléljük kissé távolabbról a véres főcímeket és a romlásról szóló próféciákat, mert ezek csak a pszichológiai hajlamainkra játszanak rá. Ehelyett nézzük inkább az adatokat: hetvenöt meggyőző grafikon segítségével Pinker megmutatja, hogy az élet, az egészség, a jólét, a biztonság, a béke, a tudás és a boldogság terén is egyre jobb a helyzet, és nemcsak Nyugaton, hanem világszerte. Ez a haladás nem valamilyen kozmikus erő eredménye. A felvilágosodásnak köszönhetjük: a meggyőződésnek, hogy az értelem és a tudomány előmozdítja az emberiség felvirágzását. Amint ma már tudjuk, a felvilágosodás távolról sem bizonyult naiv reménynek, hanem valóban működött. Mégis erőteljes védelemre szorul - jobban, mint valaha. A felvilágosodás eszmerendszere az emberi természet olyan áramlataival megy szembe, mint a tribalizmus, a tekintélyelvűség, a démonizálás, a mágikus gondolkodás, amelyeket a demagógok nagyon is szeretnek kihasználni. Sok - politikai, vallásos vagy romantikus ideológia iránt elkötelezett - kommentátor folytat ellene utóvédharcot. Ennek eredménye az ártalmas fatalizmus, valamint a globális együttműködés és a liberális demokrácia értékes intézményeinek rombolására való késztetés. Lenyűgöző intelligenciájával és irodalmi érzékével Steven Pinker védelmébe veszi az értelmet, a tudományt és a humanizmust: az ideálokat, amelyek szükségesek ahhoz, hogy szembenézhessünk problémáinkkal, és tovább tudjunk fejlődni.

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF 2018 ONE OF THE ECONOMIST''S BOOKS OF THE YEAR "My new favorite book of all time." --Bill Gates If you think the world is coming to an end, think again: people are living longer, healthier, freer, and happier lives, and while our problems are formidable, the solutions lie in the Enlightenment ideal of using reason and science. By the author of the new book, Rationality. Is the world really falling apart? Is the ideal of progress obsolete? In this elegant assessment of the human condition in the third millennium, cognitive scientist and public intellectual Steven Pinker urges us to step back from the gory headlines and prophecies of doom, which play to our psychological biases. Instead, follow the data: In seventy-five jaw-dropping graphs, Pinker shows that life, health, prosperity, safety, peace, knowledge, and happiness are on the rise, not just in the West, but worldwide. This progress is not the result of some cosmic force. It is a gift of the Enlightenment: the conviction that reason and science can enhance human flourishing. Far from being a naïve hope, the Enlightenment, we now know, has worked. But more than ever, it needs a vigorous defense. The Enlightenment project swims against currents of human nature--tribalism, authoritarianism, demonization, magical thinking--which demagogues are all too willing to exploit. Many commentators, committed to political, religious, or romantic ideologies, fight a rearguard action against it. The result is a corrosive fatalism and a willingness to wreck the precious institutions of liberal democracy and global cooperation. With intellectual depth and literary flair, Enlightenment Now makes the case for reason, science, and humanism: the ideals we need to confront our problems and continue our progress.

”Världen blir allt bättre, även om det inte alltid känns så. Jag är glad att vi har briljanta tänkare som Steven Pinker som kan ge oss det stora perspektivet. Upplysning Nu! är inte bara den bästa bok Pinker någonsin skrivit. Det är min nya favoritbok någonsin.” Bill Gates Håller världen verkligen på att falla sönder? Riskerar religiösa och auktoritära rörelser att försvaga demokratin och det globala samarbetet? Steven Pinker visar att hälsan, välståndet, freden, kunskapen och lyckan ökar i hela världen, men inte till följd av någon kosmisk kraft, utan på grund av upplysningsidealen: förnuft och vetenskap. Här finns försvaret vi behöver för att möta världens problem och fortsätta mänsklighetens utveckling.

Pour beaucoup, le monde est au bord du gouffre, menacé par le terrorisme, les guerres, les migrations et les apocalypses. Pourtant, jamais l’humanité n’a vécu une période aussi paisible et heureuse : chiffres à l’appui, ce livre montre que la santé, la prospérité, la sécurité et la paix sont en hausse dans le monde entier. Ce progrès est un legs du siècle des Lumières, animé par des idéaux puissants : la raison, la science et l’humanisme. C’est peut-être le plus grand succès de l’histoire de l’humanité. Cependant, plus que jamais, ces valeurs ont besoin d’une défense vigoureuse. Car le projet des Lumières va à contre-courant de la nature humaine, de ses tendances au tribalisme, à l’autoritarisme et à la pensée magique : autant de biais qui nourrissent les populismes et les dérives religieuses. Steven Pinker remonte aux sources de la peur : les humains sont-ils intrinsèquement irrationnels ? L’avenir est-il menacé par l’épuisement des ressources ? Comment juguler les dangers climatiques ? Avons-nous besoin de la religion pour fonder une morale ? Faut-il avoir peur de l’intelligence artificielle ? Etc. Avec rigueur, profondeur et, souvent, humour, Steven Pinker propose ici un plaidoyer pour la raison, la science et l’humanisme. Ces idéaux sont nécessaires pour relever les défis d’aujourd’hui et avancer sur la voie du progrès. Car le catastrophisme est dangereux pour la démocratie et la coopération mondiale.

Internet et le Big Data : ce que nos recherches Google disent vraiment de nous ! Les parents favorisent-ils les garçons plutôt que les filles ? L''école que l''on fréquente influence-t-elle réellement notre réussite ? Mentons-nous souvent sur notre sexualité ? En ce début de XXIe siècle, nos navigations Internet génèrent 8 millions de giga-octets de données chaque jour. Une quantité stupéfiante d''informations qui en disent long sur chacun d''entre nous, car c''est à notre moteur de recherche que nous confions nos questions et nos pensées les plus intimes. S''appuyant sur les recherches Google de millions d''Américains, Seth Stephens-Davidowitz nous livre des révélations fascinantes sur des sujets aussi divers que la politique, le racisme, la violence, notre sexualité, nos relations familiales, le sport... À la lumière de ce « sérum de vérité numérique » qu''est le Big Data, il nous invite à lever le voile sur nous-mêmes et à prendre conscience de nos préjugés... pour mieux changer. « Une plongée inédite dans la psyché humaine [...]. Infiniment fascinant. » - Steven Pinker, auteur du best-seller La Part d''ange en nous « Une exploration incroyablement intelligente et malicieuse de ce que le Big Data nous révèle de notre quotidien. Seth Stephens-Davidowitz est le meilleur conteur de données que j''aie jamais rencontré. » - Steven Levitt, co-auteur du best-seller Freakonomics « Les conclusions empiriques présentées dans Tout le monde ment sont si intrigantes que ce livre serait passionnant même s''il était structuré comme une longue liste. » - The Economist

Das unbeschriebene Blatt - Eine faszinierende Analyse zur Natur des Menschen In Das unbeschriebene Blatt bezieht Bestseller-Autor Steven Pinker eine klare Gegenposition zu John Lockes Vorstellung, der Mensch sei eine "tabula rasa", ein leeres Blatt, das im Verlauf des Lebens durch persönliche Erfahrungen beschrieben wird. Mit Witz, Brillanz und Gelehrsamkeit analysiert Pinker die Geschichte dieser Idee und zeigt anschaulich, wie falsch sie ist – mit all ihren Auswirkungen auf Vorstellungen von Sexualität, Rasse, Kindererziehung und Intelligenz. Pinker argumentiert, dass die Rolle der Gene systematisch unterschätzt wird, was jedoch nicht bedeutet, dass wir ihnen völlig ausgeliefert sind. Vielmehr zeigt er, wie befreiend diese Sichtweise sein kann. Dabei greift er auf Erkenntnisse aus Evolutionsbiologie, Sprachentwicklung, Kognitions- und Neurowissenschaften zurück und setzt sich kritisch mit Denkern wie René Descartes und Noam Chomsky auseinander. Das unbeschriebene Blatt ist ein unterhaltsames und anschauliches Buch, das tiefe Einblicke in die menschliche Natur bietet. Mit einem aktuellen Vorwort zur Neuausgabe ist es ein wahrer Lesegenuss für alle, die sich für Anthropologie, Genetik und die großen Fragen des Menschseins interessieren.

"Pinker has a lot of ideas and sometimes controversial opinions about writing and in this entertaining and instructive book he rethinks the usage guide for the 21st century. Don''t blame the internet, he says, good writing has always been hard. It requires imagination, taking pleasure in reading, overcoming the difficult we all have in imaging what it''s like to not know something we do know."--Publisher information.

"If you are not already a Steven Pinker addict, this book will make you one." -- Jared Diamond In Words and Rules, Steven Pinker explores profound mysteries of language by picking a deceptively simple phenomenon -- regular and irregular verbs -- and examining it from every angle. With humor and verve, he covers an astonishing array of topics in the sciences and humanities, from the history of languages to how to simulate languages on computers to major ideas in the history of Western philosophy. Through it all, Pinker presents a single, powerful idea: that language comprises a mental dictionary of memorized words and a mental grammar of creative rules. The idea extends beyond language and offers insight into the very nature of the human mind. This is a sparkling, eye-opening, and utterly original book by one of the world''s leading cognitive scientists.

Das faszinierende Porträt unseres Geistes - der Klassiker jetzt auf Deutsch! Wie kommt man direkt an das Denken heran? Über die Sprache. In ihr liegen unsere Vorstellungen von Raum und Zeit begründet, von Sex und Intimität, von Macht und Fairness. Bestsellerautor Steven Pinker sieht sich daher die alltägliche Sprachverwendung genau an – unsere Gespräche, Witze, Rechtsstreitigkeiten – und zeichnet ein lebendiges und überraschendes Porträt unseres Geistes und der menschlichen Natur. Mit viel Esprit, Sprachgefühl und Beispielen aus Alltag und Popkultur gelingt es ihm, schwierige Sachverhalte einfach und überzeugend zu erklären und uns zu einem neuen Blick auf uns selbst zu bewegen. »Klar, geistreich, gut geschrieben.« The New York Review of Books »Ein wichtiges Buch.« Science

Overzicht van de wereldgeschiedenis, waaruit blijkt dat de mensheid naar verhouding steeds minder gewelddadig is geworden.

Collects for the first time Steven Pinker''s most influential scholarly work on language and cognition. Pinker is a highly eminent cognitive scientist, and these essays emphasize the importance of language and its connections to cognition, social relationships, child development, human evolution, and theories of human nature.

Perché ci innamoriamo? Come si spiegano le nostre diverse reazioni di fronte all’arte, alla filosofia e alla religione? Perché i ricordi svaniscono? E dove nascono gli stereotipi etnici oppure la credenza nei fantasmi? Le innumerevoli domande sull’origine, la natura e il funzionamento della nostra mente finiscono spesso per perdersi nella vaghezza del mistero. Questo, invece, è un libro di risposte. Sfidando pregiudizi consolidati e demolendo teoremi un tempo indiscutibili, Steven Pinker ci guida alla scoperta dei più recenti progressi delle scienze cognitive e ricostruisce il programma straordinariamente complesso che rende possibili gli eventi della vita mentale che siamo abituati a dare per scontati: le meccaniche del pianto e del riso, dell’empatia e della percezione visiva. Facendo ricorso all’ingegneria inversa, che si interroga sugli scopi e l’organizzazione dei vari elementi che compongono una macchina, Pinker individua le funzioni alle quali la selezione naturale ha destinato la mente, un sistema di organi di calcolo che ha permesso ai nostri antenati cacciatori-raccoglitori di lottare, sopravvivere, prevalere. L’approccio di Pinker, uno dei più autorevoli studiosi di scienze cognitive, è rigoroso e multidisciplinare, spazia dalle neuroscienze alla biologia evolutiva compiendo efficaci e frequenti incursioni nelle discipline più disparate, come l’economia la psicologia sociale e la letteratura. Il risultato è una sintesi avvincente e monumentale – troppo ricca, esatta e pionieristica nei collegamenti e nelle conclusioni per essere ridotta a semplice divulgazione scientifica –, scritta con l’intelligenza, il ritmo e l’umorismo del grande narratore.

A classic book about language acquisition and conceptual structure, with a new preface by the author, "The Secret Life of Verbs." Before Steven Pinker wrote bestsellers on language and human nature, he wrote several technical monographs on language acquisition that have become classics in cognitive science. Learnability and Cognition, first published in 1989, brought together two big topics: how do children learn their mother tongue, and how does the mind represent basic categories of meaning such as space, time, causality, agency, and goals? The stage for this synthesis was set by the fact that when children learn a language, they come to make surprisingly subtle distinctions: pour water into the glass and fill the glass with water sound natural, but pour the glass with water and fill water into the glass sound odd. How can this happen, given that children are not reliably corrected for uttering odd sentences, and they don''t just parrot back the correct ones they hear from their parents? Pinker resolves this paradox with a theory of how children acquire the meaning and uses of verbs, and explores that theory''s implications for language, thought, and the relationship between them. As Pinker writes in a new preface, "The Secret Life of Verbs," the phenomena and ideas he explored in this book inspired his 2007 bestseller The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window into Human Nature. These technical discussions, he notes, provide insight not just into language acquisition but into literary metaphor, scientific understanding, political discourse, and even the conceptions of sexuality that go into obscenity.

“If I could give each of you a graduation present, it would be this—the most inspiring book I''ve ever read." —Bill Gates (May, 2017) Selected by The New York Times Book Review as a Notable Book of the Year The author of Rationality and Enlightenment Now offers a provocative and surprising history of violence. Faced with the ceaseless stream of news about war, crime, and terrorism, one could easily think we live in the most violent age ever seen. Yet as New York Times bestselling author Steven Pinker shows in this startling and engaging new work, just the opposite is true: violence has been diminishing for millenia and we may be living in the most peaceful time in our species''s existence. For most of history, war, slavery, infanticide, child abuse, assassinations, programs, gruesom punishments, deadly quarrels, and genocide were ordinary features of life. But today, Pinker shows (with the help of more than a hundred graphs and maps) all these forms of violence have dwindled and are widely condemned. How has this happened? This groundbreaking book continues Pinker''s exploration of the esesnce of human nature, mixing psychology and history to provide a remarkable picture of an increasingly nonviolent world. The key, he explains, is to understand our intrinsic motives--the inner demons that incline us toward violence and the better angels that steer us away--and how changing circumstances have allowed our better angels to prevail. Exploding fatalist myths about humankind''s inherent violence and the curse of modernity, this ambitious and provocative book is sure to be hotly debated in living rooms and the Pentagon alike, and will challenge and change the way we think about our society.