Author Topic: Steven Pinker's popularity  (Read 2514 times)

Justine A.

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Steven Pinker's popularity
« on: March 28, 2014, 05:40:26 PM »
What do you think the reasons why Prof. Steven Pinker is popular in the field of language and psychology. Has he contributed something breakthrough in the study of language?
« Last Edit: March 28, 2014, 09:37:18 PM by Joe Carillo »

Joe Carillo

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Re: Steven Pinker's popularity
« Reply #1 on: March 28, 2014, 09:42:23 PM »
I think Steven Pinker is immensely popular in the fields of language and psychology primarily because he has the talent to come up with bold and provocative ideas in those disciplines, coupled with the ability to explain those ideas not just in abstruse academic and scientific jargon but in highly accessible layman’s English as well. He is also an immensely prolific writer who, before age 60 (he hits 60 on September 18, 2014), has already chalked up a total of six general-audience books that have become bestsellers: The Language Instinct (1994), How the Mind Works (1997), Words and Rules (2000), The Blank Slate (2002), The Stuff of Thought (2007), and The Better Angels of Our Nature (2011). This is on top of several academic books and scores of articles and essays on his thoughts and research as a linguist and psychologist.


What may be considered as a breakthrough that Pinker has contributed to linguistics is his general theory of language acquisition that he applied to how children learn verbs. His theory, which built on the groundbreaking linguistic ideas of noted American linguist Noam Chomsky, postulates that certain simple language errors committed by young children capture the essence of language itself. Pinker observes that when a three-year-old says “I eated the ice cream” or “We holded the kittens,” he or she follows a grammar rule correctly but makes a mistake only because adult speakers happen to suspend the rule for those verbs in English. This, Pinker theorizes, points to the presence of innate cognitive machinery—a “language instinct”—that enables a young child to construct novel linguistic forms by following rules.

I would think though that this language-instinct theory is but a small fraction of Pinker’s many contributions to the science of linguistics and psychology. For a better and deeper appreciation of the body of his works and the dizzying range of his fields of interest, I suggest you read Oliver Burkeman’s interview story of him in CNN.com, “Steven Pinker: ‘We don’t throw virgins into volcanoes any more’.” That quote alone from Pinker should give you an idea of how provocative and controversial he could be in espousing his pet theories—a factor that’s obviously another major engine that drives his immense popularity.
« Last Edit: March 30, 2014, 08:04:06 AM by Joe Carillo »