The foundation of individual rights is the assumption that people have wants and needs and are authorities on what those wants and needs are. If people's stated desires were just some kind of erasable inscription or reprogrammable brainwashing, any atrocity could be justified.
Steven PinkerThe more you think about and interact with other people, the more you realize that it is untenable to privilege your interests over theirs.
Steven PinkerNatural selection is not the only process that changes organisms over time. But is the only process that seemingly designs organisms over time.
Steven PinkerOf course the theory of evolution would be vacuous if it offered a glib explanation for every inexplicable act.
Steven PinkerWe instinctively fear snakes, but we appear not to be afraid of fast cars, which are a real danger now. This suggests our emotions were shaped by our evolutionary environment not the one we grew up in.
Steven PinkerThere's a misconception that survival of the fittest means survival of the most aggressive. The adjective 'Darwinian' used to refer to ruthless competition; you used to read that in business journals. But that's not what Darwinian means to a biologist; it's whatever leads to reproductive success.
Steven Pinker