Ian McEwan & Steven Pinker: A Conversation Part 1

Ian McEwan is a world-renowned Booker Prize-winning English novelist and screenwriter.

Steven Pinker is a Canadian-American experimental psychologist, cognitive scientist, and author of popular science. Pinker is known for his wide-ranging advocacy of evolutionary psychology and the computational theory of mind.

The two discuss conversational rules of engagement; the treatment of underlings; mutual knowledge vs. innuendo; plausible deniability in platonic relationships; ad infinitum; ritual and primitive emotion; transacting intimate relationships in words; rage and desire in Joyce's 'The Dead'; misunderstandings about 'The Odyssey'; and 'Bartleby the Scrivener' as the most annoying man in the world.

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Education

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• McEwan
• Steven
• Pinker
• evolutionary
• psychology
• computational
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• conversational
• rules
• engagement
• innuendo
• mutual
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• ad
• infinitum
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• deniability
• platonic
• love
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• primitive
• emotions
• James
• Joyce
• Dubliners
• The
• Dead
• Homer
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• Bartleby
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• Scrivener
• Herman
• Melville
• May
• 2008
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• Library
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[verbose1981]

Is McEwan reading those bits throughout the conversation or does he know those book passages by heart?

[andrewcramer13]

why does ian use the word reptilian in so much of his writing? his use of the word always seems out of place and ill fitting and reads like he does it for the sake of it as though he is compelled to use the word somewhere in his writing. got any ideas??

[WastedTourist]

Pinker is really brainy!

[JamesCalico]

beer me!