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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 20 Dec 2017

    Will Wilkinson explains why right-wing libertarians (as in the current GOP) hate (and try to subvert) democracy.https://nyti.ms/2DdcGfP 

    7:15 AM - 20 Dec 2017
    • 43 Retweets
    • 110 Likes
    • Luca Brunsch 🌍 SanskritCollegeLinguistics Moshe Hoffman Van Piercy Pier Paolo Yale Leber Dmitry Tourko Shellie Stephens Scone_Mason
    20 replies 43 retweets 110 likes
      1. New conversation
      2. Nachi Free‏ @Nachi_FREE 20 Dec 2017
        Replying to @sapinker

        Other than tribalism and group think, are there any scientific studies that explain why some people become so fixated on being either conservative or liberal? Does that hyper empathy/collectivism vs tough love/individualism come down to testosterone and estrogen levels?

        1 reply 0 retweets 2 likes
      3. Tom‏ @TomRynott 20 Dec 2017
        Replying to @Nachi_FREE @sapinker

        Research Jon Haidt's work on the Righteous Mind. His work focuses on the psychological and moral foundations that create partisan outcomea

        1 reply 0 retweets 4 likes
      4. Nachi Free‏ @Nachi_FREE 20 Dec 2017
        Replying to @TomRynott @sapinker

        Thanks. I have listened to many of Jonathan Haidt's lectures. Maybe it's time I buy one of his books and eventually read it, LOL. Would love to know however if there are any practical, doable solutions to this pointless divide.

        2 replies 0 retweets 1 like
      5. Tom‏ @TomRynott 20 Dec 2017
        Replying to @Nachi_FREE @sapinker

        Some would argue it isn't pointless, but an inevitable ying and yang dimorphism that occurs in complex state democracies dealing with rapid change

        1 reply 0 retweets 2 likes
      6. Nachi Free‏ @Nachi_FREE 20 Dec 2017
        Replying to @TomRynott @sapinker

        I agree the inevitable pull of liberalism and conservatism isn't pointless, I consider myself socially liberal / fiscally conservative. The pointless divide I'm talking about is when people fail to see they share the same goals/needs, and even the solutions to the same problems.

        1 reply 0 retweets 1 like
      7. SageThinker‏ @SageThinker99 21 Dec 2017
        Replying to @Nachi_FREE @TomRynott @sapinker

        I would say that the soup of propaganda in which we swim because this society is really an oligarchy probably distorts the better parts of our nature that could find fruitful compromise otherwise, and make a better world for all of us (except the super wealthy minority).

        1 reply 0 retweets 1 like
      8. Nachi Free‏ @Nachi_FREE 21 Dec 2017
        Replying to @SageThinker99 @TomRynott @sapinker

        At least they've provided us with the Twitter sandbox to throw some cat shit around. Just hope some of us at some point clean up the mess of buried turds so we don't keep stepping on them, LOL.

        0 replies 0 retweets 1 like
      9. End of conversation
      1. New conversation
      2. Michael K. Osta‏ @MichaelOsta 20 Dec 2017
        Replying to @sapinker

        They are everything but Libertarians.

        1 reply 0 retweets 1 like
      3. SageThinker‏ @SageThinker99 21 Dec 2017
        Replying to @MichaelOsta @sapinker

        Part of the idea is that "libertarianism" is a sort of mind-thralling ideology that grabs people and helps make them support actual right-wing realpolitik, not knowing it, as useful idiots. I know firsthand. I was a teenage libertarian. I outgrew it with experience and wisdom.

        0 replies 1 retweet 0 likes
      4. End of conversation
      1. Ari Armstrong‏ @ariarmstrong 20 Dec 2017
        Replying to @sapinker

        a) Contra @willwilkinson’s out-of-context claims, today’s GOP endorses a massive welfare state. b) All liberals agree some things (eg free speech) should be excluded from majority rule.

        0 replies 0 retweets 1 like
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      1. Allen Barron‏ @AllenADBI 20 Dec 2017
        Replying to @sapinker

        Dr. Pinker, your comment doesn't show the kind of even-handed rationality I've come to expect from you. I suggest: many of them hate socialism, but not democracy. (I'm neither a Trump voter nor a libertarian, by the way.)

        0 replies 0 retweets 1 like
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      1. Catherine Hessian‏ @cathinott 20 Dec 2017
        Replying to @sapinker

        This is just a consequence of the culture of money worship in the US. The wealthier you are, the more admired. Anything that reduces your wealth is seen as a theft or attack, because it reduces your intrinsic value (and your power&freedom).

        0 replies 0 retweets 1 like
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      1. themightypuck‏ @themightypuck 20 Dec 2017
        Replying to @sapinker

        Our Constitution was set up precisely to subvert democracy. GOP are not right wing libertarians. Hans Hermann-Hoppe is a right wing libertarian. Ron Paul is kinda a right wing libertarian. How many in GOP openly reject Rawls?

        0 replies 0 retweets 1 like
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      1. New conversation
      2. David Ricardo‏ @constructal1 20 Dec 2017
        Replying to @sapinker

        It is Progressives that despise democracy. Look at how little faith Woodrow Wilson had in the constitution and how he tried to destroy it, then look at at the horrific record of FDR. The Left despises individual freedom. To them “freedom” means the State’s freedom, not yours.

        1 reply 0 retweets 0 likes
      3. blake j. harris‏ @blakejharrisNYC 20 Dec 2017
        Replying to @constructal1 @sapinker

        Woodrow W? 😂🤣😂🤣

        0 replies 0 retweets 1 like
      4. End of conversation
      1. Abraxus Canuck‏ @ABXCNK 23 Dec 2017
        Replying to @sapinker

        @sapinker Why do you call them libertarians when libertarians despise 90% of what they stand for? For the record, libertariams do not approve of corporate favoratism, corporate influence in politics or any kind of cronyism. We also don't approve of lower rights for anyone. !

        0 replies 0 retweets 0 likes
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      1. Randy McGregor‏ @Ramcgreg 21 Dec 2017
        Replying to @sapinker

        Libertarians will never get their agenda authorized through democracy, so they have a choice: Accept that fact, or make it happen some other way.

        0 replies 0 retweets 0 likes
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      1. Francis McRae‏ @FrankMcRae 20 Dec 2017
        Replying to @sapinker

        mmm this sounds almost as bad as some protesting teenagers on a minor university campus

        0 replies 0 retweets 0 likes
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