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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 Feb 4

    An old question inspired by biology: Does humanity have the same destiny as bacteria & other species? Or are we enlightened enough to avoid guzzling resources & fouling our nests? Excellent essay by Charles Mann (I make similar points in Enlightenment Now) https://goo.gl/Q1eqAW 

    9:29 PM - 4 Feb 2018
    • 260 Retweets
    • 796 Likes
    • Jacki MacDougallLove Andrew Sharvika Dimas Young Trismegistus ed stack cars.vip Andrea MendezBrandam
    36 replies 260 retweets 796 likes
      1. New conversation
      2. Babette Babich‏ @babette_babich Feb 7
        Replying to @sapinker @BrBabblingBooks

        Patently not == given what we have done throughout human history and the incredible acceleration of the same in recent decades. We're hellbent on being hellbent.

        1 reply 0 retweets 2 likes
      3. Victor Silva‏ @Viccsil Feb 7
        Replying to @babette_babich @sapinker @BrBabblingBooks

        This debate remember me of Nietzsche's "On Truth and Lies in a Nonmoral Sense".

        0 replies 0 retweets 3 likes
      4. End of conversation
      1. Debora Marks‏ @deboramarks Feb 5
        Replying to @sapinker

        bigger the organism the less time on the planet ? Testable

        0 replies 1 retweet 1 like
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      1. Ali Syed‏ @AliRizvi313 Feb 5
        Replying to @sapinker

        Libya is but an example how The US has helped the Islamic World by dragging it kicking and screaming from the middle ages with the help of its progressive interventions and love bombs. All the while supporting progressive forces such as the Mujahideen and Saudi Arabia. Good job

        0 replies 1 retweet 1 like
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      1. ~*~MarilynFan~*~‏ @TheOtherRosie Feb 4
        Replying to @sapinker @l1ght3n

        When we run out of #fossil_fuels, human beings will be forced to become #smarter in order to exist.😏

        0 replies 0 retweets 1 like
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      1. .‏ @asd12n Feb 4
        Replying to @sapinker

        A person is enlightened enough. But when you talk about people as a whole with all their differences , they aren't. As long as Humanity will have subdivisions it will have same destiny as that of bacteria.

        0 replies 0 retweets 1 like
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      1. Rev. Boo-f  🎃 💀 👻‏ @1LogicalMan Feb 4
        Replying to @sapinker

        Based on what's going on in Philly tonight, I'm going to go with "no".

        0 replies 0 retweets 1 like
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      1. BatteryBabe1‏ @batterybabe1 Feb 9
        Replying to @sapinker

        if history of civilization is rise and fall on localized scale...should we be nationalistic...for humanity that is (trying to straddle both sides of coin) 🤣

        0 replies 0 retweets 0 likes
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      1. Cosmic Cheshire Cat‏ @CosmicCCat Feb 5
        Replying to @sapinker

        In short, 'yes' and 'no'. We have the ability to avoid our biological destiny but are too preoccupied with invented issues - E.g. Economics and politics. We need to start focusing on biological threats (e.g. Bacterial resistance), primarily, and, secondly, threats from space.

        0 replies 0 retweets 0 likes
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      1. Janet Holmes  🌹‏ @Jeholmes Feb 5
        Replying to @sapinker

        It seems unlikely. We are just slightly cleverer chimps, and the greediest ones get to make most of the important decisions.

        0 replies 0 retweets 0 likes
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      1. Alex Turner‏ @AlexWr1ter Feb 5
        Replying to @sapinker

        Get it done on time starting at $5 per page. No plagiarism. Always. I am available 24/7. https://wr1ter.com/request . *Retweet to save a life!*

        0 replies 0 retweets 0 likes
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      1. Dazz‏ @DazzleDzatron Feb 5
        Replying to @sapinker

        Unfortunately the Petri dish is becoming full, and the wrong people are breeding.

        0 replies 0 retweets 0 likes
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      1. City Atlas‏ @cityatlas Feb 5
        Replying to @sapinker

        It turns out that democracy is good, under the right conditions. As this Harvard research shows:https://youtu.be/xrXyRJV96mk 

        0 replies 0 retweets 0 likes
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      1. Alicia Hill‏ @durangodagz Feb 5
        Replying to @sapinker

        Isn’t the extinction of Homo Sapiens the logical conclusion to the cycle? I find it hard to believe that humans are the pinnacle of the evolutionary process. Great essay though!

        0 replies 0 retweets 0 likes
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      1. Culgi‏ @CulgiBV Feb 5
        Replying to @sapinker

        Charles Mann wrote a wonderfull piece about change, Wizards, and Prophets!

        0 replies 0 retweets 0 likes
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      1. MrSecular‏ @GodsaPox Feb 5
        Replying to @sapinker

        Enlightenment requires a certain amount of intelligence. Consensus requires a certain level of intelligence in the population. Importation of large numbers of people who are neither enlightened nor intelligent enough to become so, guarantees we will move further from these goals.

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