Steven Pinker, "The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window into Human Nature" September 24, 2007

Steven Pinker, in conversation with Roy Eisenhardt.

Experimental psychologist Steven Pinker studies what the words we use tell us about the way we think in The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window into Human Nature. He concludes that language reflects the very structure of the brain, the interactions of modules honed by millions of years of evolution. Pinker combines an enthusiasm for science with a witty eye for metaphor. For example, he explains in The Stuff of Thought that the difference between drinking from a glass of beer and drinking a glass of beer shows "the mind has the power to frame a single situation in very different ways." Pinker uses psycholinguistics to investigate sweeping issues of human society in his bestselling books, including The Language Instinct, How the Mind Works, and The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature. He is a currently a professor of psychology at Harvard University.

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