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sapinker's profile
Steven Pinker
Steven Pinker
Steven Pinker
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@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 May 24

    Steven Pinker Retweeted Elon Musk

    Elon Musk is absolutely right about this. Journalistic innumeracy is damaging in many ways, and editors should put an end to it.https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/996131586469842945 …

    Steven Pinker added,

    Elon MuskVerified account @elonmusk
    It’s super messed up that a Tesla crash resulting in a broken ankle is front page news and the ~40,000 people who died in US auto accidents alone in past year get almost no coverage https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/tesla-with-autopilot-slams-into-truck-stopped-at-red-light/2018/05/12/18d2e740-563e-11e8-a6d4-ca1d035642ce_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.7466cb626644 …
    Show this thread
    5:10 AM - 24 May 2018
    • 1,834 Retweets
    • 7,984 Likes
    • Talking Characters فيلسوف مخضرم🇯🇴 Beverly Berg 𝕋𝕆𝕄 𝕂𝕀𝕊𝕊 🦄 Scott Wainner Techwatch Curious Valentin Shaunna L Kennedy Travis Jay Moore
    298 replies 1,834 retweets 7,984 likes
      1. New conversation
      2. Lindsay BeyerSCREAM  🎃‏ @Beyerstein May 24
        Replying to @sapinker

        This is blatant whataboutism. Self-driving car technology is inherently newsworthy. Musk just hates scrutiny.

        14 replies 3 retweets 252 likes
      3. 𝙋𝙧𝙖𝙫𝙚𝙣‏ @pravengov May 24
        Replying to @Beyerstein @sapinker

        It isn't whataboutism when one points out a complete lack of context in reporting.

        4 replies 3 retweets 84 likes
      4. Lindsay BeyerSCREAM  🎃‏ @Beyerstein May 24
        Replying to @pravengov @sapinker

        Did you read the Washington Post article that Musk is huffing about? It didn't make any irresponsible claims. It just reported on a self-driving car crash and noted two similar crashes under investigation. Musk doth protest too much.

        6 replies 0 retweets 118 likes
      5. 𝙋𝙧𝙖𝙫𝙚𝙣‏ @pravengov May 24
        Replying to @Beyerstein @sapinker

        One sided reporting on the issue is swinging public opinion away from the ground truth on the matter, ie; AI driven cares are safer. If this stalls adoption by even a few years we're talking millions of lives needlessly lost on roads. Imho @elonmusk can't protest enough.

        6 replies 4 retweets 80 likes
      6. Lindsay BeyerSCREAM  🎃‏ @Beyerstein May 24
        Replying to @pravengov @sapinker @elonmusk

        If they're really as good as Musk says they are, he should welcome investigation and coverage of the inevitable wrinkles and accidents that come with developing a new technology.

        6 replies 0 retweets 53 likes
      7. Space Bound‏ @Ev_Investor May 24
        Replying to @Beyerstein @pravengov and

        This is nonsense, if you sensationally reported every serious bad reaction of a new vaccine or medical treatment public would be made irrationally afraid of it w/o statistical context. Same for sensational plane accident coverage, sell fear and sensationalism.

        3 replies 3 retweets 117 likes
      8. Lindsay BeyerSCREAM  🎃‏ @Beyerstein May 24
        Replying to @Ev_Investor @pravengov and

        If a plane falls out of the sky, it's newsworthy. You don't need to cover all the planes that don't fall out of the sky for "balance."

        14 replies 0 retweets 66 likes
      9. Space Bound‏ @Ev_Investor May 24
        Replying to @Beyerstein @pravengov and

        Nonsensical comparison. Equivalent would be 100s of planes fall out of the sky everyday but national media only sensationally reports when a electric plane falls out of the sky and obfuscates relative statiscal risk.

        5 replies 6 retweets 155 likes
      10. 1 more reply
      1. New conversation
      2. Rabbi Dr. Aaron Ross‏ @RabbiRoss May 24
        Replying to @sapinker

        Why is he right, Professor Pinker? The article is about a new technology and people are interested in knowing what will be with it. We already know a lot about regular car crashes - they are not "news" in the same sense.

        5 replies 0 retweets 79 likes
      3. TheodorD‏ @gsxr_hunter May 24
        Replying to @RabbiRoss @sapinker

        He's right because journalists don't put the news in perspective. New technologies are compared to what? Aren't many accidents happening because of bad drivers? Or are we comparing to the utopian 0 accidents ever?

        3 replies 1 retweet 38 likes
      4. michael taylor‏ @wordsbymt May 24
        Replying to @gsxr_hunter @RabbiRoss @sapinker

        He’s also wrong because he has oversold the abilities of his “self-driving” system to boost stock price and image and is furious that he’s being held to account for that recklessness.

        2 replies 0 retweets 28 likes
      5. TheodorD‏ @gsxr_hunter May 24
        Replying to @wordsbymt @RabbiRoss @sapinker

        Has he ever said autopilot is infallible? What do you mean by oversold?

        2 replies 0 retweets 9 likes
      6. michael taylor‏ @wordsbymt May 24
        Replying to @gsxr_hunter @RabbiRoss @sapinker

        Exhibit A, your Worship.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXeqFrwfIsA&feature=youtu.be&t=15m36s …

        1 reply 0 retweets 13 likes
      7. michael taylor‏ @wordsbymt May 24
        Replying to @wordsbymt @gsxr_hunter and

        exhibit B.https://bgr.com/2017/08/24/tesla-autopilot-elon-musk-engineers-safety/ …

        1 reply 0 retweets 16 likes
      8. 1 more reply
      1. New conversation
      2. DemosCat‏ @DemosCat May 24
        Replying to @sapinker

        It's the old "Dog Bites Man" is not news, but "Man Bites Dog" is. The unusual sells papers. That said, people *should* be more aware of auto death statistics and the huge potential for lives to be saved by self-driving cars.

        6 replies 6 retweets 54 likes
      3. mike tancsa‏ @miketancsa May 24
        Replying to @DemosCat @sapinker

        The exceptionalism nature of news combined with publish what sells more ads/creates more 'engagements' because of profit pressures... "Planes on Time at the Airport" vs "Nightmare 8hr delay on Tarmac-- no water, no AC, no WC"

        2 replies 0 retweets 7 likes
      4. DemosCat‏ @DemosCat May 24
        Replying to @miketancsa @sapinker

        Roughly speaking, your chances of surviving a car trip today is 99%. Your chances of surviving a flight is 99.99%, or about 100 times safer, In the future, when car fatalities are as unusual as aircraft fatalities, the media will report every single car crash.

        2 replies 2 retweets 25 likes
      5. Joseph Mason‏ @mjjoe4 May 24
        Replying to @DemosCat @miketancsa @sapinker

        I take more than 100x more trips in a car than a plane. Risk per trip is misleading.

        1 reply 0 retweets 2 likes
      6. DemosCat‏ @DemosCat May 24
        Replying to @mjjoe4 @miketancsa @sapinker

        Fair point. If your risk per individual trip was 99% and you drive 300 times in a year, that would suggest (.99^300) only a 5% chance of surviving the year. :) That was from yearly stats, so perhaps better to say you have a 99% chance of surviving a year's worth of driving.

        1 reply 0 retweets 1 like
      7. 1 more reply

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