Steven Pinker Knihy

Ak vás zaujala Roslingova publikácia Moc faktov, Steven Pinker ho vo svojich záveroch len podporí a doplní. Jeho kniha je plná vášnivého odporu voči pesimizmu a nesúhlasu so zaužívaným pocitom, že moderný svet je odsúdený na zánik. Pinker dôkladne preštudoval vývoj v minulých storočiach a dospel k jednoznačnému záveru, že život sa neustále zlepšuje. Dnes žijeme dlhšie, zdravšie, bezpečnejšie, šťastnejšie, blahobytnejšie a v mieri. Táto kniha je určená pre ľudí, ktorí majú radi argumenty a dáta. So Stevenom Pinkerom by ste sa fakt nechceli pohádať! Ak si myslíte, že sa svet rúti do pekla, táto kniha vás rozhodne vyvedie z omylu. Zistíte, že na tom vôbec nie sme tak zle, ako si myslíme a ako to často prezentujú senzáciechtivé médiá. Ak sa však k moci dostanú populisti a vydržia tam dosť dlho, všetko, čo sme zatiaľ ako ľudstvo dosiahli, môže byť ohrozené. Veda, rozum, humanizmus a pokrok sú základom ľudského blahobytu a treba za ne stoj čo stoj bojovať.

Autor dáva odpovede na otázky: Ako funguje jazyk? Ako si deti osvojujú materčinu? Ako vznikajú nové slová? V ktorej časti mozgu je jazyk doma? Prečo majú jazyky také množstvo výnimiek a nepravidelností? ...a na mnohé ďalšie.

Prečo je ľudstvo po celé stáročia napriek ohromnému technickému a inteligenčnému pokroku také náchylné veriť falošným poplašným správam, nezmyselným konšpiráciám a dokonca aj samozvaným liečiteľom – šarlatánom? Racionálne premýšľanie je ako šípka hodená správnym smerom a Pinkerov triezvy, humorný pohľad pomôže objasniť a posilniť naše vedomie – praktické myslenie.

In "The Language Instinct," Steven Pinker, well-known for his revolutionary theory of how children acquire language, lucidly explains everything you always wanted to know about language: how it works, how children learn it, how it changes, how the brain computes it, how it evolved. With wit, education, and deft use of everyday examples of humor and wordplay, Pinker weaves our vast knowledge of language into a compelling story: language is a human instinct, wired into our brains by evolution like web spinning in spiders or sonar in bats.

Is modernity really failing ? Or have we failed to appreciate progress and the ideals that make it possible ? If you follow the headlines, the world in the twenty-first century appears to be sinking into chaos, hatred and irrationality. Yet, Steven Pinker shows, if you follow the trendlines rather than the headlines, you discover that our lives have become longer, healthier, safer, happier and more prosperous - not just in the West, but worldwide. Such progress is no accident : it's the gift of a coherent and inspiring value system that many of us embrace without even realizing it. These are the values of the Enlightenment : reason, science, humanism and progress. In making the case for an Enlightenment newly recharged for the twenty-first century, Pinker shows how we can use our faculties of reason and sympathy to solve the problems that inevitably come with being products of evolution in an indifferent universe. We will never have a perfect world, but - defying the chorus of fatalism and reaction - we can continue to make it a better one.

A controversial history of violence argues that today's world is the most peaceful time in human existence, drawing on psychological insights into intrinsic values that are causing people to condemn violence as an acceptable measure.

A brilliant inquiry into the origins of human nature from the author of Rationality, The Better Angels of Our Nature, and Enlightenment Now. "Sweeping, erudite, sharply argued, and fun to read..also highly persuasive." --Time Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize Updated with a new afterword One of the world's leading experts on language and the mind explores the idea of human nature and its moral, emotional, and political colorings. With characteristic wit, lucidity, and insight, Pinker argues that the dogma that the mind has no innate traits-a doctrine held by many intellectuals during the past century-denies our common humanity and our individual preferences, replaces objective analyses of social problems with feel-good slogans, and distorts our understanding of politics, violence, parenting, and the arts. Injecting calm and rationality into debates that are notorious for ax-grinding and mud-slinging, Pinker shows the importance of an honest acknowledgment of human nature based on science and common sense.

What is the truth about human nature? Steven Pinker argues that our usual explanations of human behaviour - stated most clearly in the human sciences of psychology, ethics and politics - tend to deny what is now undeniable: the role of an inherited human nature.

What is the secret of good prose? Does it matter in an age of digital media? In this witty, mind-expanding book about the art and science of writing well, Steven Pinker shows that good style isn't just about rules - it's about empathy, coherence and adding beauty to the world. 'Witty, direct and idiosyncratic . . . often laugh-out-loud funny . . . refreshingly uncensorious . . . It helps enormously that he is such a beautiful stylist himself.' Paula Byrne, The Times 'Wonderful . . . No true lover of this chaotic, unregulated, magnificently vital language could fail to thrill.' Christopher Hart, Sunday Times 'Brainy, funny . . . a comedy of linguistic bad manners.' Peter Conrad, Guardian 'Outstanding . . . the one book I can unreservedly recommend as a guide on how to write well . . . unique as well as brilliant.' Oliver Kamm, The Times

"Presented with extraordinary lucidity, cogency and panache...Powerful and gripping...To have read [the book] is to have consulted a first draft of the structural plan of the human psyche...a glittering tour de force" - Spectator "Why do memories fade? Why do we lose our tempers? Why do fools fall in love? Pinker's objective in this erudite account is to explore the nature and history of the human mind...He explores computations and evolutions, and then considers how the mind lets us "see, think, feel, interact, and pursue higher callings like art, religion and philosophy" - Sunday Times