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sapinker's profile
Steven Pinker
Steven Pinker
Steven Pinker
Verified account
@sapinker

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Steven PinkerVerified account

@sapinker

Cognitive scientist at Harvard.

Boston, MA
pinker.wjh.harvard.edu
Joined January 2010

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    Steven Pinker‏Verified account @sapinker 10 Feb 2015

    Was Brian Williams a Victim of False Memory? [The answer is almost certainly "yes"- it's a textbook case.]http://nyti.ms/16IdN5p 

    7:36 AM - 10 Feb 2015
    • 59 Retweets
    • 43 Likes
    • Marc Bassets Michael McGuffin Michael Iwaniec "No Shit" Sherlock Colin McDaniel Dorian Cervantes The Ghost of Tim Marsh Stephen La Macchia Väinö Leppänen
    22 replies 59 retweets 43 likes
      1. New conversation
      2. Joe Norman‏ @normonics 10 Feb 2015
        Replying to @sapinker

        LOL, now liars are 'victims'. Do you really think you'd forget whether or not you were in a helicopter taking fire? @sapinker

        1 reply 1 retweet 2 likes
      3. MKM Abdul‏ @MKM_Abdul 10 Feb 2015
        Replying to @normonics

        @normonics @sapinker neither liar nor victim! He Costanza'd himself. ("Jerry, just remember, it's not a lie if you believe it.")

        0 replies 0 retweets 1 like
      4. End of conversation
      1. Mayke Briggs‏ @MaykeBriggs 10 Feb 2015
        Replying to @sapinker

        .@sapinker I am more inclined to give him a pass because he has to function in a culture of news spin and lies, so one more doesn't matter?

        0 replies 2 retweets 0 likes
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      1. TakingHayekSeriously‏ @FriedrichHayek 10 Feb 2015
        Replying to @sapinker

        @sapinker if you look closely at the evidence -- which those excusing Williams have not -- the answer is certainly Brian Williams is lying.

        0 replies 0 retweets 1 like
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      1. Steve Roth‏ @asymptosis 10 Feb 2015
        Replying to @sapinker

        .@sapinker I find it utterly implausible that Williams was consciously, intentionally lying. He's not stupid, would know he'd get caught.

        0 replies 0 retweets 1 like
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      1. david ropeik‏ @dropeik 10 Feb 2015
        Replying to @sapinker

        @sapinker Memory is fallible. But recalling that bullets were flying through the fuselage of the helicopter you were in? a stretch i think.

        0 replies 0 retweets 1 like
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      1.  🎃 💨This Is Halloweed 🎃 💨‏ @ScottMayBStoned 10 Feb 2015
        Replying to @sapinker

        @sapinker I find it hard to believe someone can see a crash, then somehow think they were IN the crash later. Add info to memories, sure.

        0 replies 1 retweet 0 likes
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      1. B 👿b Blaskiewicz  ✌ 💛 👽‏ @rjblaskiewicz 10 Feb 2015
        Replying to @sapinker

        @sapinker Nobody seems to be willing to give him the benefit of the doubt except psychologists. :/

        0 replies 0 retweets 1 like
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      1. Wynn Toms‏ @WynnToms 10 Feb 2015
        Replying to @sapinker

        @sapinker Victim?

        0 replies 0 retweets 1 like
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      1. New conversation
      2. Sam Vicchrilli‏ @samv33 10 Feb 2015
        Replying to @sapinker

        @sapinker just yesterday I swore I sent a friend an email. I even told him what he responded. Email records show no email was sent.

        1 reply 0 retweets 0 likes
      3. Antoinette O'Grady‏ @ogradyamo 12 Feb 2015
        Replying to @samv33

        @samv33 Also an excellent example of "writer brain"... you think it, therefore it's true. @sapinker

        0 replies 0 retweets 1 like
      4. End of conversation
      1. Mark Erickson‏ @wegianshooter 11 Feb 2015
        Replying to @sapinker

        @sapinker almost certainly? No way to have that level of confidence.

        0 replies 0 retweets 0 likes
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      1. Stephen Reed‏ @sreed104 10 Feb 2015
        Replying to @sapinker

        @sapinker If it was just this one incident, sure. But there are many other stories that have raised questions:http://goo.gl/BqiCvC 

        0 replies 0 retweets 0 likes
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      1. Father Jack‏ @urcrazytoo 10 Feb 2015
        Replying to @sapinker

        @sapinker It's not just about memory though, but story telling too? Telling stories invites us to put ourselves centre stage.

        0 replies 0 retweets 0 likes
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      1. Rocketsaurus Rex‏ @rocketsaurusrex 10 Feb 2015
        Replying to @sapinker

        @sapinker interesting, though it seems pretty extraordinary to falsely remember something like that

        0 replies 0 retweets 0 likes
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      1. Synthetic‏ @SR71999 10 Feb 2015
        Replying to @sapinker

        .@sapinker So why didn't he say something like "You know I swear I remember it happening but it turns out I was mistaken"?

        0 replies 0 retweets 0 likes
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      1. Colin Forster‏ @colinwforster 10 Feb 2015
        Replying to @sapinker

        @sapinker what do I do if he accuses me of molesting him when he was 10?

        0 replies 0 retweets 0 likes
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      1. TakingHayekSeriously‏ @FriedrichHayek 10 Feb 2015
        Replying to @sapinker

        .@sapinker Leftists have false memories; non-leftists are shameless liars -- we know how this NY Times story goes every time.

        0 replies 0 retweets 0 likes
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      1. Jason Hofferle‏ @jhofferle 10 Feb 2015
        Replying to @sapinker

        @sapinker I wonder if any lawyers are using this type of research to cast doubt on eyewitness accounts of crimes.

        0 replies 0 retweets 0 likes
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      1. New conversation
      2. jason lemieux‏ @jaylemeux 10 Feb 2015
        Replying to @sapinker

        @sapinker I can't imagine that these many psychological studies are right, so they must be wrong.

        2 replies 0 retweets 0 likes
      3. HigherGround‏ @giragoes 10 Feb 2015
        Replying to @jaylemeux

        @jaylemeux @sapinker Poor Brian just happened to be the victim of a false memory that coincidentially made him into a gallavanting war hero?

        1 reply 0 retweets 0 likes
      4. jason lemieux‏ @jaylemeux 10 Feb 2015
        Replying to @giragoes

        @giragoes @sapinker I can't imagine any other possibility. It must be so.

        1 reply 0 retweets 0 likes
      5. jason lemieux‏ @jaylemeux 10 Feb 2015
        Replying to @jaylemeux

        @giragoes @sapinker I mean, as disappointed as I am to hear the news. After all, getting shot down is a very heroic act.

        0 replies 0 retweets 0 likes
      6. End of conversation

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