American author Steven Pinker talks about his latest work in a fascinating session at the Jaipur Literature Festival Rationality: what it is, why it seems rare, why it matters, In a conversation with Mihir S Sharma, Pinker talks about how this book is like a homecoming for him. “Rationality is, in many ways, a return to my home turf. I have been trained as a cognitive psychologist. So my specialty is how the mind works and what is human nature in detail. It is not just about what we think, but also what our intentions and feelings are. This was my career,” he said.
The author reveals that through his works he tried to find answers to questions about human rationality and how it varies from place to place. “When I wrote a book called Language Instincts, which argued that language is a human instinct, it raised the question of what other human instincts are. It in turn raised the question of if there is such a thing as human nature, if the mind is something. What comes into the world with the organization given by innate structure and development, so do it have political implications,” he explained.
Jaipur Literary Festival 2022 (Virtual): Rationale: What it is, why it seems rare, why it matters -Steven Pinker in conversation with Mihir S Sharma Date: Sunday, March 6 Time: 12:30 PM – 1:15 PM Virtual Location: Mughal Tenthttps://t.co/xnuqaTqkHo, pic.twitter.com/mxyYZUFr3U— steven pinker (@sapinker) 5 March 2022
Pinker’s best-selling works on human progress have helped him understand the world as it is today. He says that human rationality is a gift that should not be suppressed to keep emotional thoughts intact. “I associate the book with progress because the third part of the book’s subtitle is ‘Why it Matters.’ Well, one reason that rationality matters is that it is human rationality that is responsible for most of our progress. Progression It just doesn’t happen. There is no magical power in the universe that makes life better. On the contrary, the laws of nature make life worse, to the extent that we have reduced famine and disease. Today, we have The reason for rationality has reduced the war,” he said.
In the modern world, for a psychologist, the question of culture and the cancellation of censorship is fascinating. Pinker says that these authoritarian actions come from a sense of infallibility.
“There is institutional censorship that in many countries censure controversial writers or speakers. The implicit rationale for silencing people is that they should not be allowed to spread misinformation. They should not say false and harmful things. The problem is It is that people who are censoring or canceling others have to assume that they are infallible. They are so confident about their opinion that they want to silence people and remove opposing views from their platforms. For this the groups will use force,” he warned.
“The problem is that we are all human and our reasoning is always subject to flaws and prejudices. The greatest bias is to assume that we are not biased but someone else. The act of suppressing speech is unforgivable because it assumes that The censored person has a pipeline of truth and is divinely inspired. That’s not how our species gets to the truth. The only way to reach the truth is through open debate and evaluation of ideas,” Pinker explained.
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