Crazy Town

Why the Polycrisis Is a Statistical Anomaly: The Willful Delusions of the World’s Leading Pseudointellectual


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Meet Steven Pinker whose denial of limits increases the likelihood of his worst fear: the end of the Enlightenment. Please share this episode with your friends and start a conversation.

For an entertaining deep dive into the theme of season five (Phalse Prophets), read the definitive peer-reviewed taxonomic analysis from our very own Jason Bradford, PhD. 

Sources/Links/Notes:

  • David Marchese, "Steven Pinker Thinks Your Sense of Imminent Doom Is Wrong" in The New York Times Magazine (2021).
  • The Work that Reconnects Network
  • Good Grief Network
  • Three relevant past episodes of Crazy Town are episode 39 on the myth of progress, episode 35 on self-domestication, and episode 34 on terror management theory.
  • "Steven Pinker: The Mind Reader" in The Guardian (1999).
  • Robert Wright, "The 2004 Time 100" in Time Magazine (2004).
  • Nick Gillespie, "Steven Pinker Loves the Enlightenment" in Reason Magazine (2018).
  • David A. Bell, "Waiting for Steven Pinker’s enlightenment" in The Nation (2018).
  • Emile Torres, "Steven Pinker’s fake enlightenment" in Salon (2019).
  • Robert Epstein, "Book Review: The Better Angels of Our Nature" in Scientific American (2011).
  • Tyler Cowen, "Steven Pinker on Language, Reason, and the Future of Violence," Mercatus Center (2016).
  • Mike Freiheit and Lyta Gold, "Comic: Steven Pinker--Certified Grief Counselor" in Current Affairs 2018). 
  • George Monbiot, "Contrary to Reason" in The Guardian (2018).
  • Alex Blasdel, "Pinker's progress: the celebrity scientist at the centre of the culture wars" in The Guardian (2021).

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