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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 6 Dec 2017

    The Selfish Gene named the most inspiring science book ever. (But its message has not sunk in: most writers still assume that evo favors group harmony or species survival, unaware they are saying something obsolete.)https://royalsociety.org/news/2017/07/science-book-prize-poll-results/ …

    4:51 PM - 6 Dec 2017
    • 494 Retweets
    • 1,403 Likes
    • CryptoMojoRising FaulknersRestaurant Ryder Cleary Abby Felt Ashok Burad Slyck 101 ana Ram K Winning Emergence
    56 replies 494 retweets 1,403 likes
      1. Geoff D TREMEL‏ @Jethro__12 6 Dec 2017
        Replying to @sapinker

        "People don't want to see the truth because they don't want their illusions destroyed" Nietzsche

        0 replies 1 retweet 25 likes
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      2. Peter Harrison‏ @uqpharri 6 Dec 2017
        Replying to @sapinker @colwight

        If anything is obsolete, it is the gene-centric view of evolutionary change presented in the Selfish Gene, along with seductive but deeply confused metaphors.

        3 replies 1 retweet 18 likes
      3. 1 more reply
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      2. Peter Joseph‏ @ZeitgeistFilm 6 Dec 2017
        Replying to @sapinker

        "Most writers still assume that evo favors group harmony or species survival, unaware they are saying something obsolete" Please elaborate, Steven. 'Most writers' today seem far more fatalistic from what I can tell, bent on promoting ruthless group competition to support elitism.

        2 replies 0 retweets 7 likes
      3. Dylan J.‏ @DylanBGoode19 6 Dec 2017
        Replying to @ZeitgeistFilm @sapinker

        I think some nuance is warranted here. People often conflate determinism and fatalism as though they're the same thing. From what I can tell though, @sapinker specifically rails against fatalism in his upcoming book "Enlightenment now." Thoughts?

        0 replies 0 retweets 1 like
      4. End of conversation
      1. JohnFive‏ @thisguykrause 6 Dec 2017
        Replying to @sapinker

        Having read it twice my only irritation about the book is that most people have only read the title, so the many attempts of Prof Dawkins to clarify what is meant by a "selfish gene" are ignored in people's criticism of the book.

        0 replies 0 retweets 9 likes
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      2. Mohieldin Gamal‏ @mohimg 6 Dec 2017
        Replying to @sapinker

        I took two things from the book: 1. Opens the mind to a different and more accurate perception of causality. 2. Shows that altruism can ...

        1 reply 0 retweets 3 likes
      3. Mohieldin Gamal‏ @mohimg 6 Dec 2017
        Replying to @mohimg @sapinker

        ...benefit the survival and propagation of the gene even more than the individual’s own self interest.

        0 replies 0 retweets 2 likes
      4. End of conversation
      1. New conversation
      2. Houston‏ @HoustonM1952 6 Dec 2017
        Replying to @sapinker

        Over On the Origin of Species by some no name guy in the 19th century, apparently.

        1 reply 0 retweets 3 likes
      3. DepravedMutant‏ @depraved_mutant 6 Dec 2017
        Replying to @HoustonM1952 @sapinker

        Well it certainly inspired in that it changed the course of history, but as a book it’s not “inspiring” in that kind of poetic way, it’s fairly dry for the most part.

        0 replies 0 retweets 2 likes
      4. End of conversation
      1. New conversation
      2. Peter J Brown‏ @peterpod4 6 Dec 2017
        Replying to @sapinker

        Just ordered my copy.

        1 reply 0 retweets 0 likes
      3. RaceRealist‏ @Race__Realist 6 Dec 2017
        Replying to @peterpod4 @sapinker

        You should also order Dance to the Tune of Life by Denis Noble to get a true view of the genes' role in evolution.

        1 reply 0 retweets 3 likes
      4. Peter J Brown‏ @peterpod4 6 Dec 2017
        Replying to @Race__Realist @RaceRealist88 @sapinker

        Done

        1 reply 0 retweets 2 likes
      5. RaceRealist‏ @Race__Realist 6 Dec 2017
        Replying to @peterpod4 @sapinker

        Noble has another book too and also I cannot forget Evolution in Four Dimensions by Eva Jablonka and Marion Lamb and The Ontogeny of Information by Susan Oyama.

        1 reply 0 retweets 2 likes
      6. 1 more reply
      1. Willem Lemmens‏ @WLemmensPhilo 7 Dec 2017
        Replying to @sapinker @filipbuekens

        I prefer Newton’s Principia Mathematica for this title. Dawkins is science popularisation, a form of new mythology, in fact.

        0 replies 0 retweets 6 likes
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      1. Ori Katz‏ @OriKatz3 6 Dec 2017
        Replying to @sapinker

        I never understood why you think group selection cannot work. Jonathan Haidt makes a very good argument in favor of group selection in "The Righteous Mind". It doesn't matter that evolution happens at the gene level.

        0 replies 0 retweets 5 likes
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      1. Steve Peters‏ @petesfg 6 Dec 2017
        Replying to @sapinker

        The Red Queen (Ridley),is one of my favorites

        0 replies 0 retweets 5 likes
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      1. RaceRealist‏ @Race__Realist 6 Dec 2017
        Replying to @sapinker

        Daily reminder there is no empirical basis for the selfish gene. Daily reminder that Dawkins said that he can't imagine any experiment to prove his hypothesis.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3060581/ …

        0 replies 0 retweets 6 likes
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      2. Pete Smillie‏ @mequantum 6 Dec 2017
        Replying to @sapinker

        Tell that to E.O. Wilson. As if unselfish selfish genes cannot express through conscious prolonged behavioral change, and rewarding environments/mindsets.https://news.wisc.edu/study-reveals-gene-expression-changes-with-meditation/ …

        1 reply 1 retweet 4 likes
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