October 26 2007 - A discussion on Point of Inquiry - Pinker explores what our use of language can tell us about human nature. He discusses our use of metaphors, and what concepts may be innate, how the “language of thought” may be hard-wired in our brains. He also explains how to avoid the pitfalls of such hard-wiring, using the methods of science as the model.
mattzb
/
matt
There are no people in mattzb’s collective.
Huffduffed
(4)
-
Steven Pinker: The Stuff of Thought
-
Introducing Nikola Tesla
Part visionary, part mad scientist, and absolute genius, Tesla should be as famous as Edison – but he’s been largely forgotten. Kurt talks with Samantha Hunt about her new novel The Invention of Everything Else. Tesla is the protagonist, and despite the outlandish biographical details all through the book, there was very little she had to make up.
-
Kevin Kelly on the Future of the Web and Everything Else
March 26 2007 - Author Kevin Kelly talks about the role of technology in our lives, the future of the web, how to time travel, the wisdom of the hive, the economics of reputation, the convergence of the biological and the mechanical, and his impact on the movies The Matrix and Minority Report.
-
Steven Pinker: Chalking it up to the blank slate
It’s another Ted talk from Steven Pinker, this time focusing on the subject matter of his book The Blank Slate.
"The creative human intelligence which personified a mouse and called him Mickey is the exact same creative intelligence which personified a universe and called him God"
Tagged with steven pinker blank slate ted