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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 Mar 21

    After noting that merciful God isn't so merciful to victims of rampage shootings, I got 25 emails explaining it's because he's banned from schools. This cartoon examines the logic:https://tmblr.co/ZD5myv2VJRMqO 

    8:17 PM - 21 Mar 2018
    • 443 Retweets
    • 1,280 Likes
    • The Development Coach Dcinu12 Rowena Thornton Elizabeth Dewey Jordan Jameson Ryan Araujo🍥 Jared mackie Wendy Lewis Robban
    92 replies 443 retweets 1,280 likes
      1. John Hiett‏ @JohnHiett Mar 21
        Replying to @sapinker

        pic.twitter.com/Eoa4szxs4n

        0 replies 3 retweets 22 likes
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      1. New conversation
      2. Pathfinder‏ @Pathfinder4545 Mar 21
        Replying to @sapinker

        1) You're a bright guy, and I really like your work. Your strawmanning of religious belief belies that. You don't have to believe to behave respectfully of others. The problem of evil is one that religious traditions have wrestled with for millennia, some with greater success

        2 replies 0 retweets 15 likes
      3. Pathfinder‏ @Pathfinder4545 Mar 21
        Replying to @Pathfinder4545 @sapinker

        2) and to more coherent result than others. Attacking caricatures of the less rigorous does not advance the good. A cogent argument can be made that the loss of the social and psychological supports until relatively recently provided by religious belief and practice has in ...

        1 reply 0 retweets 11 likes
      4. Pathfinder‏ @Pathfinder4545 Mar 21
        Replying to @Pathfinder4545 @sapinker

        3) fact contributed to the prevalence of collapse into the sort of resentful nihilism that is expressed in mass killing of innocents. Our best and brightest fail us when they engage so far beneath their capacity, and with such contempt for that which they cannot yet explain.

        7 replies 1 retweet 13 likes
      5. Rus Spence‏ @rus_spence Mar 21
        Replying to @Pathfinder4545 @sapinker

        Can you explain why Europe, which is far more atheistic also has far fewer school shootings?

        1 reply 0 retweets 6 likes
      6. Pathfinder‏ @Pathfinder4545 Mar 21
        Replying to @rus_spence @sapinker

        Lots of differences within Europe let alone with the US. Different cultures, social welfare systems, mental health care programs, firearms access, population size, community cohesion. Exposure to US media is a big one, as we have made a powerful meme of the school shooter here.

        2 replies 0 retweets 3 likes
      7. Pathfinder‏ @Pathfinder4545 Mar 21
        Replying to @Pathfinder4545 @rus_spence @sapinker

        That said, the point here is not to dissect the mass killing phenomena, but rather to elevate the level of discourse around religion. Religious belief has been a human universal for longer than we have history, and remains nearly so today. The subject warrants proper treatment.

        3 replies 2 retweets 7 likes
      8. Joneser‏ @born_a_joneser Mar 22
        Replying to @Pathfinder4545 @rus_spence @sapinker

        Elevating the stature of religious belief is problematic. It gives people the false impression that unjustifiable beliefs should be taken seriously. Allowing scientific thinking to be challenged by wishful thinking is bad for all of us. For example: the issue of global warming.

        1 reply 0 retweets 0 likes
      9. Pathfinder‏ @Pathfinder4545 Mar 22
        Replying to @born_a_joneser @rus_spence @sapinker

        Denigrating the stature of religious belief is a problem, given that we have evolved with it. Accepting you as the arbiter of truth and designer of functioning societies would be similarly dangerous.

        1 reply 0 retweets 0 likes
      10. 5 more replies
      1. New conversation
      2. Darth Jeffery‏ @jeffery_keys Mar 21
        Replying to @sapinker

        I think you're being cheeky but the point on God being banned from schools is in providing a moral foundation that prevents the shooters from developing -- not a magical wizard that stops bullets.

        15 replies 0 retweets 8 likes
      3. DeityFree‏ @DeityFree Mar 21
        Replying to @jeffery_keys @sapinker

        Kids have a better chance at building good morals without belief in a genocidal, misogynist, vengeful war god who permitted slavery. (By the way, the Austin bomber was homeschooled by Christians).

        1 reply 3 retweets 5 likes
      4. 1 more reply
      1. New conversation
      2. SJW-English Dictionary‏ @Zemoeki1 Mar 21
        Replying to @sapinker

        If you're interested in the problem of evil in the world, it's called Theodicy. The Wikipedia article on it is a good starting point.

        2 replies 1 retweet 3 likes
      3. Jonathan Leonard‏ @johanatan Mar 21
        Replying to @Zemoeki1 @sapinker

        Nah, that would require actual reading.

        1 reply 0 retweets 1 like
      4. SJW-English Dictionary‏ @Zemoeki1 Mar 22
        Replying to @johanatan @sapinker

        That too. But first of all, honest curiosity.

        0 replies 0 retweets 1 like
      5. End of conversation
      1. New conversation
      2. Todd M.‏ @Todd_MMiller Mar 21
        Replying to @sapinker

        I think you’re wrong. What they really mean is that what is missing is the set of Judeo-Christian values that, if more broadly adopted, would create circumstances that reduce the likelihood of a serious school shooting incident.

        1 reply 0 retweets 0 likes
      3. Rus Spence‏ @rus_spence Mar 21
        Replying to @Todd_MMiller @sapinker

        Can you explain why the most Christian states have the most gun violence? The Bible Belt has far more gun homicides than the less religious California and New York.pic.twitter.com/zkuXwxYmMP

        2 replies 1 retweet 4 likes
      4. End of conversation
      1. Self Actualizing Pancakes‏ @SlfActlzngPncak Mar 21
        Replying to @sapinker

        This cartoon attacks the strawman of a literal interpretation of the Bible, rather than the actual argument of a deficit of meaning and morality in people's lives.

        1 reply 0 retweets 1 like
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