Political Rhetoric, Explained - Steven Pinker

[amyderfer]

Ron Paul = substance

[LogicalFlawDetector]

@TennisAnnalyst

"in the lung run, we're all dead" lung run? LOL

[LogicalFlawDetector]

@TennisAnnalyst

Get a life, leftwing loser. Writing essays on youtube comment sections LOL

[AshillaBeige]

So fun when you get to tell progressive atheists or "free thinkers" as many like to call that both Steven Pinker and Michael Shermer are liertarians. You can hear a good chunk of them shitting themselves in disbelief.

[FranklinCarrollIV]

Good, the leftists stole the word liberal. They never had any right to it.

[ravebritt]

was it true when bachman wished elvis a happy birthday a few days ago?

[wisdomtrek]

The fictionalized reality of this bearing any semblance to a Republic has been thoroughly dispelled at this stage in the game and yet the theatre continue's. It's insulting. 

[heyandy889]

Lol. Partisan politcal ad preceeds this video.

[sexymasterj]

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[bigdumbclown]

If I was at this meeting, I would be the guy in the 7th row, near the aisle, and totally asleep. 

[Nalopotato]

@bigdumbclown did you vote for bush? =]

[JohnnyRock2000]

The term liberal likely became an insult during the Regan admin. It's a term that Americans enjoy internally. They love a liberal lifestyle. But Americans do not like to be viewed as liberal in foreign policy. Meaning to the world....America is anything but liberal.

[ihatekhomeini]

The processes of understanding square words is part of the very abstract field of social remembering. I think Pinker's ability to deride the social sciences is making his theories not as advanced as they could be.

[rockos414]

@ihatekhomeini square words? deride? You are a fantastic example of empty rhetoric. "social remembering" and "not as advanced as they could be". You construct sentences like a fifth grader. Steven Pinker has his P.H.D. in Linguistics and Psychology. There is no "deriding" of the social sciences. Why would he mock his own field of expertise? Dumbass.

[mtb416]

@rockos414 ba-zing!

[ihatekhomeini]

@rockos414 I meant swear words, and please apologise for my bad English as it is my fourth language, and I only started to learn it at the age of 18. Not everybody here are American, and Pinker does have a very condescending view of many fields within the social sciences, and can be a bit dogmatic in my opinion.

[smb12321]

@ihatekhomeini Don't worry. My Farsi is not good either. LOL I taught English to Iranian refugees, many of whom protected those of other faiths. Pinker only appears dogmatic but he is pointing out how our view of the mind affects our world.

The belief that minds can be molded in any way (Blank Slate) led to horrendous social engineering fiascos. We blame TV, video games, nutrition, etc for violence & think changing these would help. Pinker points out this there is no evidence for this.

[rockos414]

@ihatekhomeini ...i kinda feel bad now. haha. I wouldn't say condescending, but more skeptical. Since his main field is psychology and linguistics, he's more than likely going to have a preference.

[GUNNYinc]

Thanks; helped a bunch :D

[Peterlisinski]

Appendix to the questionnaire.

Feel free to answer more than one alternative if you think the words meaning differs dependent on the context. Do you think that people in general agree on these contextual differences? Yes or no?

[Peterlisinski]

Hello, I am conducting some research for a small linguistic essay concerning the meaning of the internet word LOL. I would be very grateful if you would quickly answer the questions below about how you use and interpret the word.

Does it mean?

A: To actually laugh out loud.

B: To express mild amusement.

C: To express large amusement.

D: To express appreciation.

E: None of the above (if so please specify the actual meaning).

[ihatekhomeini]

@Peterlisinski b

[fluorogoat]

@Peterlisinski

B.

And it should be 'answer the question', not 'answer the questions'.

[iloveextremesports1]

Obama is a master of political rhetoric,  Bush on the other hand is a complete imbicile but still managed to convince an entire country to invade Iraq again!

[RunLiberty]

Politicians may benefit by appealing to both the religous and secular with good word skills Libertarianism is the future

[alltoohuman17]

The American definition of "Libertarianism"?

This simply means permitting tyrannical and completely profit/greed-oriented corporations to deny healthcare, commit human rights violations and exploit workers as much as they can just to make their shareholders even richer and everyone else poorer in an unregulated "Free Market".

This Laissez Faire attitude has only ever happened in the poorest countries in Africa. It didn't go well.

Look up Noam Chomsky is you want more information.

[LogicalFlawDetector]

You are completely clueless. Hong Kong is the freest market--the most economically libertarian. Its economy has grown 180 times in the past few decades, more than any other economy. Hong Kong is number one in the world economic freedom index. The countries at the top of that index -- the freest markets -- are the most prosperous. Ironically, the poor African countries you referenced occupy the bottom, meaning they are the most rigid, thwarted and regulated markets.

[MorriganBella]

As someone posted here: PINKER FOR PRESIDENT! At least we know where he stands: no magical thinking (religion and fanaticism), genes seem to matter more than nurture, evidence must justify our engaging in useless, hateful wars that never end, etc. Will he castrate the DEFENSE Industry?? Let's hope so.

[Mister0Alexi]

Actually he argues that nuture (i.e. post-natal social experience) interacts with genetic dispositions, resulting in certain reactions in how innate drives are dealt with and certain products in terms of cultural behaviour

[mares2929]

it's not THAT hard to go to a top university or even teach at one, you just have to have above average intelligence, want to do it and have the right background. a bit like being a politician.

however pinker is heads and shoulders above that minimum standard! if only more americans (and voters all over the world) thought like WarRogers.

[WarRogers]

It's a shame that we (America) keep getting dumb-asses running for office when there's smart guys like this out there. I'd much rather have Pinker on the phone with Vladimir Putin rather than Bush or Obama any day of the week!

[DanHipp]

Obama is a brilliant guy: Excelled at Harvard, taught constitutional law at Chicago...etc

[Eldel15]

Obama is a war tyrant and imperialist, who cares about the interest of multinational corporations, and special interests groups and his own power. People who support him are an example of the indoctrination of the ruling political institutions.

[LogicalFlawDetector]

@DanHipp

Obama is a statist pig. Just to let your ignorant ass know: Steven Pinker is libertarian, in the modern American context -- not the 19th century context which Noam Chomsky subscribes to.

[IncLogic]

PINKER FOR PRESIDENT !

[faraz1729]

I sincerely wish.

[fomastephanovitch]

He's one guy not born in the country who ought to run it!

(tongue is firmly in cheek)

[farouqnimer]

@IncLogic A good psychologist is by no means a good politician

[climbaesthetic]

@farouqnimer Truth. Thats why Pinker is claiming to be a politician. He's simply explaining a few areas of political rhetoric.

[ArtificialSouls]

@IncLogic oh god no... he would know exactly how to word things, to get whatever he wants XD

[skepticasts]

"when we lose or jobs, we turn to guns and religion... lipstick on a pig and so on" lol

Pinker doesn't say anything new, but he says it well.

[ihatekhomeini]

@skepticasts That's the thing with Pinker. He never seems to say anything new, but he says it well. How he has become so famous is strange though, since there are better and more innovative scientists in his field.

[pawsoned]

@skepticasts It's because he is just another modern day sophist and his pseudo-explanations are a whole lot of hooey that befuddle other people by constructing false data and presenting them as a scientific fact that is seemingly irrefutable. Who is he really? Not a philosopher or a scientist but only a linguistic maven who uses rhetorical gimmicks to dismiss ideas that he does not like.

[phatpat63]

Chomsky can't even admit that the Soviet Union collapsed under the weight of its own contradictions he thinks they were doing great. The man is a fucking loon.

[Cosbibi]

Why do I never see people attack Chomsky using honest argument? It always seems to be this holocaust denier/genocide supporter/stalinist bullcrap. 30 seconds of work would have been enough to find out that Chomsky has always been extremely critical of the Soviet Union.

[reaguirre]

you've got to love this guy for wearing a 1980's david hasselhoff hairstyle.

[gabydewilde]

You've written one of those youtube comments.

[inexxxorable]

Steve Pinker is somewhat famous for aggressively arguing against George Lakoff's theories.

Yet, at minute 3:00, he says exactly the same thing that George Lakoff said so many years earlier - in the first chapter of "Don't Think of an Elephant!"

[suren1946]

exactly! in fact, most of his new book, THE STUFF OF THOUGHT, is plagiarised from Lakoff in particular, and cog. lx. in general.

[magicbibledotcom]

lol that old psychology shtick about saying that sort of sentence such as "Don't think of X" and you think of X because "think of X" is there in the sentence is kind of silly.

It's more the fact that X was just mentioned.

Because if you say ANYTHING to someone that they have a mental image of then they'll think of it. Regardless of the structure of the sentence.

If you just say "BUS" to someone, they'll picture a bus immediately lol.

[inexxxorable]

lolz

like omg you totally didn't read Lakoff and you so don't know what me and suren1946 are talking about.

lol.

[inexxxorable]

At minute 3:55, Pinker says that "words, in addition to having their literal meaning, can evoke an immediate emotional response."

This requires that the meaning of the words is internalized by the subject. But the words (indeed the language) are created and manipulated by the subject.

This entails that the meaning must be internalized before the words are used, else the user will not know which words to use.

Thus, language is embodied. Else, words could not evoke emotions.

[TheToltec]

Excellent Video:)

[ContolGFK]

The master of political rethoric is the English stand-up comedian and writer PAT CONDELL.

[astrophysicistCUboul]

Pinker also strongly disagrees with Chomsky on the origins of language.

[bajawind]

pinker is a student of chomsky, there are no stupid people, just ignorant ones. school is where we learn stupidity. however the world and people appear is simply a reflexion of you.

[chainy10]

and this reaction to truth.....is due to how stupid most people are..do to the way society is now.

[suren1946]

Pinker should switch to politics; at least then he can make a bit more sense [than his linguistic theory].

WHat he says about the "CHANGE" thing was copied from Chomsky anyway - again.

[apostleofsedition]

Chomsky aptly illustrates how politicians use vague language that no one can disagree with. This is a means of diverting from real issues and marginalizing public opinion. Phrases like "anti-american" or "support our troops" Pinker says "we force" them to do this because we're too critical. He really misses the point.

Pinker should stay away from politics.

[suren1946]

yes, you're absolutely right!

In fact, I wish Pinker would stay away from Linguistics as well!

[Hamandchees3]

no. pinker says we force them because we aren't critical enough.

[vegtam1]

I think you are misunderstanding force there.

[Buckman82]

he did not meant that we literally and directly force them intentionally to use vauge and indirect speech he was saying that it is only their natural response to being put nder fire for saying things in direct and difinitive ways. Also by buying into it (like buying into Obama's promises) we create the atmosphere where such empty rhetoric is applauded and clearly succsessful. Listent o the whole thing again and stop qoute mining lolololol

[apostleofsedition]

The purpose of vague language is avoidance of real issues, not being worried that you might offend someone.

[analubalitious]

Those are not mutually exclusive or even unconnected. Doesn't it make sense that politicians require votes (I.E. favorably viewed). To that end, it's wise to avoid real issues and concrete stances. Granted, many politicians probably couldn't care less about your emotions or mine, except to the extent of those emotions translating to votes.

[apostleofsedition]

Of course you're right. It's both. I suppose we agree that the "avoidance of real issues" reason should not be ignored or confused with merely not offending people. (Talking about health care, which was avoided until recently, is, for example, hardly offensive, and was avoided and approached vaguely for different reasons).

[garvess]

Steve Pinker is like sex for the brain!

[Quickgate]

You want to hear the master of rhetoric? Just search for "PAT CONDELL".

[liberalbasher2]

I want CHANGE!! I think I'll have steak tonight.

[Iambecome]

Pinker's cool

[blackiron60]

The political status quo is bloody embarrassing.

[Keylimedelight]

This is pretty self evident stuff, but its good to hear it so eloquently explained.

[CRAPCANNONS]

pretty self evident, but everyone is falling for it.

The choice is always between false hope and no hope.  False hope usually always wins.

[ianhoppe]

haha, well said cannons.

[CRAPCANNONS]

thanks