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Conversations with Tyler

A podcast in which esteemed economist Tyler Cowen engages with today's most underrated thinkers in wide-ranging explorations of their work, the world, and everything in between. For new episodes, visit conversationswithtyler.com/episodes.

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Steven Pinker on Language, Reason, and the Future of Violence (Ep. 14 — Live at Mason)

51 min readNov 2, 2016

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On the economics of irregular verbs

On Chomsky and universal grammar

On the theory of mind

I think there are some cases where human intuition hits a wall and this is one of them. The nature of time. What could have been before the Big Bang, if that was the beginning of everything. How can the universe either be finite or infinite? There’s no reason to think that every aspect of reality will be intuitive.

On the essential Steven Pinker

I do believe in the Enlightenment vision that by understanding our world, that the world is intelligible, that we can understand it. That progress in understanding and therefore progress in rational action are possible. Including, pointedly, ourselves.

On the limits of reason

On things under- and overrated

www.stevepinker.com

On the future of peace

On the Fermi Paradox and existential threats

On TV shows

Most academics I think secretly watch TV as a guilty pleasure and then deny it. I’m the other way around. I don’t watch a whole lot of TV, and I feel like I ought to watch more.

On CRISPR

Q&A

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Conversations with Tyler
Conversations with Tyler

Published in Conversations with Tyler

A podcast in which esteemed economist Tyler Cowen engages with today's most underrated thinkers in wide-ranging explorations of their work, the world, and everything in between. For new episodes, visit conversationswithtyler.com/episodes.

Mercatus Center
Mercatus Center

Written by Mercatus Center

The Mercatus Center at George Mason University is the world’s premier university source for market-oriented ideas.

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