Steven Pinker

A provocative speaker, much in demand, Steven Pinker is a cognitive scientist who has been named by TIME as one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World. His keynotes have helped millions demystify the science behind human language, thought, and action. Pinker is a Harvard professor, a TED speaker, and a bestselling author, twice nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. Highly respected in the scientific community, his work and opinions are extensively covered in the mainstream media, and have won a wide general audience.

His latest book, When Everyone Knows That Everyone Knows . . ., is a riveting look into what we understand as common knowledge, and how they can help us make sense of topics as varied as financial bubbles and crashes, revolutions, diplomacy, social media mobs, and even the awkwardness of a first date. Steven offers fascinating and vital insight into the paradoxes of human behavior, and invites us to understand the ways we try to get into each other’s heads and the effect that has on our social, political, and economic lives. Jonathan Haidt, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Anxious Generation, writes that “Reading Steven Pinker is always a delight. If Pinker’s ideas become common knowledge, we’ll be far better equipped to handle the massive disruptions already arriving in our hyper-networked world.”

In his previous book, Rationality: What It Is, Why It Seems Scarce, Why It Matters, Pinker argues that we fail to take advantage of the most powerful tools of reasoning discovered by some of our best thinkers: logic, critical thinking, probability, correlation and causation. These tools are not a standard part of our educational curricula, and have never been presented clearly and entertainingly in a single book—until now. Recently named one of Amazon’s best science books of the year, Rationality is an enriching, inspiring, and captivating new read on how to harness rationality to improve our personal lives and advance social progress.

In his earlier book Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress Pinker argued that, despite fear-mongering and political upheaval, the world is getting better: peace, prosperity, knowledge and happiness are on the rise. “The world is getting better, even if it doesn’t always feel that way,” wrote Bill Gates, in a review of the book. “I’m glad we have brilliant thinkers like Steven Pinker to help us see the big picture. Enlightenment Now is not only the best book Pinker’s ever written. It’s my new favorite book of all time.” The New York Times included the book in its year-end list of 100 Notable Books, and NPR and Esquire both named it as one of the best books of the year. Enlightenment Now was the follow-up to The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Had Declined, which was a #1 Amazon bestseller. Keynotes based on that book inspired audiences worldwide with its core message that, if you look at the facts, we are living in the most peaceful human era ever. The talks pointed the way to a better future for humankind.