One of the perks of being a psychologist is access to tools that allow you to carry out the injunction to know thyself.
Steven PinkerIf you aren't just brought up in your tribe but interact with other people either directly or vicariously, through journalism and literature, you see what life is like from other points of view and are less likely to demonize them or dehumanize others and more likely to empathize with them.
Steven PinkerWhy are empirical questions about how the mind works so weighted down with political and moral and emotional baggage?
Steven PinkerThe linguistic clumsiness of tourists and students might be the price we pay for the linguistic genius we displayed as babies, just as the decrepitude of age in the price we pay for the vigor of youth.
Steven Pinker