Penguin Books - Steven Pinker - The Stuff of Thought

[mrkeys1111]

People, places, things...they are, they have been and they will be. Steven fascinates on the actions that change and transform them. The verbs and the changers of our reality. He looks at our actions to how we perceive them, how we correlate them and how we predicate on them. Pure genius.

[zakiechan]

Fascinating topic. The content makes up for the terrible camera work and editing.

[rabbitwho]

@zakiechan I was just going to write those exact words! It keeps zooming in and out, changing focus, zipping around.. the cameraman could work for MTV

[dLimboStick]

Fuckin A

[mancuniangurl]

why does it keep zooming in on blonde women

[MrNietzschesMustache]

Am I the only one who finds it rather surreal to hear Steven Pinker saying "fucking your secretary"?

[magicbibledotcom]

LMAO no I find that funny too.

It's because he's so articulate and I've never heard him swear.

I'd also like to hear Richard Dawkins say something like "Fuck off you cunt".

[joesoap81]

There is a video of Dawkins on u tube saying something along the lines of ''Oh do fuck off'' to a question he recieves from an audience member in a lecture its very funny.

[magicbibledotcom]

Yeah what he says is, well I think he quotes someone.

He says

"Science is interesting and if you don't agree, you can fuck off"

lmao, very funny.

[OddBank]

yeppers

[ananiasacts]

Makes a lot of sense to me. I guess it offers a lot of hope too, suggesting that even the so-called religious people aren't as sure about it as they were decades ago. More like something they think they should believe rather than something they do believe. Maybe we'll be rid of the scourge one day.

[WarningDontReadThis]

Pinker has great hair.

[mrc3667]

The emotional context Pinker talks about is the main reason I use any of those words. One of the reasons I started was because I wanted people to know I was really angry, it seemed if I didnt no body took my anger seriously. Hey but if you swear you get their attention right?

[PeeGeeBeeDee]

Yes exactly. For instance, Natalie Thiem (since day 1; April 15, 2004) has been following me on the internet. As time has passed her perception of me has fluctuated (she's thought one thing and then reversed that thought and then re-reversed it back to her original thought). However, one thing has remained constant and that is, she has not taken me seriously not one bit. This may eventually come back to haunt her, however.

[Imbrickle]

I appreciated this talk, but I also found it very funny and distracting to hear Pinker swear repeatedly. :P

[RationalEmotive]

What the fuck are you talking about? :)

Technically he is not swearing, because in spoken language there is no common marker for indirect language, you have to work with the context.

[mmkaybs]

hahaha, I love how the camera keeps focusing on the girl on the bench behind Pinker:P

[mupersan82]

What? You mean Pinker isnt a girl? WHAT?!

[caspianrex]

To quote from Bono: This is really, really fucking brilliant.

[crdrews]

Not exactly an Tarantino movie, but very good. (:

[TAXtheAtheist]

Steve, they are called slang, as in:

Steve, you are a 'damn' atheist idiot.

[Davey1977]

Fuck you.

[TAXtheAtheist]

Nice.

[Davey1977]

My only problem with Pinker's explanation of swearing has to do with its potential positive connotations.

For example, if I say "That movie was fucking awesome!", or "Holy shit Dave, you rock!", obviously I'm not transmitting negative emotions. It would be interesting if he explained this further.

[Aphex217Twin]

I think the swear words are there to grab peoples attention, and words with negative connotations grab peoples attention, wether what you're swearing about is positive or negative.

[Merlinij]

Pinker explains that swearing is used in five different ways. I quote from chapter 7 : descriptively (let's F, idiomatically (It's F-ed up), abusively (F you !), emphatically (This is F-ing amazing !), and cathartically (F !!!).

[likethewater]

@Davey1977 youtube The Language of Swearing (part 1) he explains it there

[kramatik84]

he doesnt explain shit. he doesnt explain why many people say "we f you up right now" and meaning hurting or destroying someone else... thats weak, man

[HenbossMagic]

You're an idiot. Listen to the part where he says that we use swear words in cases where they have no meaning, purely as an expression of a strong emotion.

[kjlg74]

I think kramatik84's statement that Pinker "doesn't explain shit" is not justified, but I think his example of "F you up" is a good one. It doesn't quite fit into the categories covered by Pinker in this video (although maybe in his book he goes into more detail).

Also, I wonder how the differences came about between "F up", "F over", "F around", "F with", and "F off". And why isn't there a "F on", "F out", or "F in". Maybe those are available for adoption in the future.

[kefkafan]

To kjlg-I think that a phrase like "F off" is used to instill these negative emotions so it's only natural that the opposite of the word that "F" is paired with (on) would seem odd (not to mention it brings up images Wayne and Garth having sex).

[kjlg74]

That sounds reasonable.

In that case "F out" and "F in", since they're opposites and both unused, are still available to have meanings attached :)

Anyone want to suggest one? :P

[Davey1977]

For fuck's sake, kramatik84. He didn't even speak for 3 fucking minutes. Give him a god damn break. If you took your head out of your ass and read one of his books, perhaps the shit in your brains would begin to be replaced by functioning neurons and you'd realize that he deals with this topic extensively, since he he is a cognitive specialist and you are just an opinionated fucking goof-off.

[gtjhuang]

I always thought "F U" means "I F U" instead of "U F yourself", It is like "Damn U", meaning "I damn U". Unless it is the abbreviated "May God damn U". Anyway, all known languages are severely flawed in expressing ones' thoughts. The purpose of language is to easily convey a clear expression, not an art to confuse people. Literature should be put in the art museum.

[eddie7282]

Pinker... you rock my socks, in a literal sense =]

[Iambecome]

Steven Pinker is excellent: common-sensical, intellectually honest, extremely bright, humanistic, entertaining, wise, and completely devoid of pomposity. My favourite writer! Bravo Professor Pinker!

[ravideu]

I second all your views lambecome...