Steven Pinker

"El instinto del lenguaje" se ha convertido en un clásico donde Steven Pinker, el experto mundial en lenguaje y mente explica todo lo que a cualquiera de nosotros nos gustaría saber sobre el lenguaje: como funciona, como lo aprenden los niños, como cambia, como lo elabora el cerebro, y como evoluciona. Con claridad y buen humor, el autor nos dice que el lenguaje constituye un instinto humano incorporado a nuestro cerebro por la evolucion. Despues de mas de quince años en el mercado, este libro sigue siendo una introduccion muy util a la ciencia del lenguaje aun teniendo en cuenta que es una disciplina que ha evolucionado mucho con el tiempo. Y, en las paginas finales de esta nueva edicion, el autor ofrece algunas reflexiones sobre el contenido de cada capitulo a la vista de los desarrollos y avances de la ciencia del lenguaje desde 1994.

A bitesized and funny look at words we're not meant to say. Covers eveything from Tourette's to pottymouthed celebrities to poetry, this book tells us what swearing tells us about how our minds work. The author is a professor in pyschology at Harvard.

Oneof the world''s greatest contemporary thinkers and author of The Better Angels of Our Nature (described by Bill Gates as ''the most inspiring book I have ever read'') shows how to think afresh about the human condition and to meet the challenges that confront usIs modernity really failing? Or have we failed to appreciate progress and the ideals that make it possible?If you follow the headlines, the world in the 21st century appears to be sinking intochaos, hatred, and irrationality. Yet Steven Pinker shows that this is an illusion - a symptom of historical amnesia and statistical fallacies. If you follow the trendlines rather than the headlines, you discover that our lives have become longer, healthier, safer, happier, morepeaceful, more stimulating and more prosperous - not just in the West, but worldwide. Such progress is no accident: it''s the gift of a coherent and inspiring value system that many of us embrace without even realizing it. These are the values of the Enlightenment: of reason, science, humanism and progress.The challenges we face today are formidable, including inequality, climate change, Artificial Intelligence and nuclear weapons. Butthe way to deal with them is not to sink into despair or try to lurch back to a mythical idyllic past; it''s to treat them as problems we can solve, as we have solved otherproblems in the past. In making the case for an Enlightenment newly recharged for the 21st century, Pinker shows how we can use our faculties of reason and sympathy to solve the problems that inevitablycome with being products of evolution in an indifferent universe. We will never have a perfect world, but - defying the chorus of fatalism and reaction - we can continue to make it a better one.

In this brilliant and controversial book, Steven Pinker, one of the world's leading cognitive scientists, explains what the mind is, how it evolved, and how it allows us to see, think, feel, interact, enjoy the arts and ponder the mysteries of life. And he does it with the clarity and style that earned The Language Instinct worldwide critical acclaim and several major prizes.

Pinker analiza las más diversas actividades humanas y nos muestra lo impresionante que puede llegar a ser nuestra mente. A partir de la abundante información generada por la ciencia cognitiva y la bi

A BOOK OF THE YEAR 2021, AS CHOSEN BY THE TIMES'Punchy, funny and invigorating ... Pinker is the high priest of rationalism' Sunday Times'If you've ever considered taking drugs to make yourself smarter, read Rationality instead. It's cheaper, more entertaining, and more effective' Jonathan Haidt, author of The Righteous MindIn the twenty-first century, humanity is reaching new heights of scientific understanding - and at the same time appears to be losing its mind.How can a species that discovered vaccines for Covid-19 in less than a year produce so much fake news, quack cures and conspiracy theorizing?In Rationality, Pinker rejects the cynical cliche that humans are simply an irrational species - cavemen out of time fatally cursed with biases, fallacies and illusions. After all, we discovered the laws of nature, lengthened and enriched our lives and set the benchmarks for rationality itself. Instead, he explains, we think in ways that suit the low-tech contexts in which we spend most of our lives, but fail to take advantage of the powerful tools of reasoning we have built up over millennia: logic, critical thinking, probability, causal inference, and decision-making under uncertainty.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. Rationality matters. It leads to better choices in our lives and in the public sphere, and is the ultimate driver of social justice and moral progress.Brimming with insight and humour, Rationality will enlighten, inspire and empower. 'A terrific book, much-needed for our time' Peter Singer

In this exhilarating book, Steven Pinker asserts that language should not be seen as a cultural artefact that we learn in the way we learn to tell the time, but as a distinct part of the biological m

The Stuff of Thought is an exhilarating work of non-fiction. Surprising, thought-provoking and incredibly enjoyable, there is no other book like it - Steven Pinker will revolutionise the way you think about language. He analyses what words actually mean and how we use them, and he reveals what this can tell us about ourselves. He shows how we use space and motion as metaphors for more abstract ideas, and uncovers the deeper structures of human thought that have been shaped by evolutionary history. He also explores the emotional impact of language, from names to swear words, and shows us the full power that it can have over us. And, with this book, he also shows just how stimulating and entertaining language can be.

Enlightenment Now: by Steven Pinker | Conversation StartersEnlightenment Now, Steven Pinkers new book is a refreshing, new perspective on the situation of the world in general. As the subtitle says Pinker advocates, "the case for reason, science, humanism, and progress". Pinker challenges the idea that we are in an increasing global crisis and that our future is bleak, his view is that the world is improving, and this book is his proof. By using over 70 graphs he demonstrates in no uncertain terms how people are living longer, healthier, better lives. This optimistic focus is one of the reasons this has become Bill Gates"new favorite book of all time."A Brief Look Inside:EVERY GOOD BOOK CONTAINS A WORLD FAR DEEPERthan the surface of its pages. The characters and their world come alive,and the characters and its world still live on.Conversation Starters is peppered with questions designed tobring us beneath the surface of the pageand invite us into the world that lives on.These questions can be used to..Create Hours of Conversation: Foster a deeper understanding of the book Promote an atmosphere of discussion for groups Assist in the study of the book, either individually or corporately Explore unseen realms of the book as never seen before

The Stuff of Thought is an exhilarating work of non-fiction. Surprising, thought-provoking and incredibly enjoyable, there is no other book like it Steven Pinker will revolutionise the way you think about language. He analyses what words actually mean and how we use them, and he reveals what this can tell us about ourselves. He shows how we use space and motion as metaphors for more abstract ideas, and uncovers the deeper structures of human thought that have been shaped by evolutionary history. He also explores the emotional impact of language, from names to swear words, and shows us the full power that it can have over us. And, with this book, he also shows just how stimulating and entertaining language can be.

En El Instinto del Lenguaje , el autor expone con claridad y buen humor mucho de lo que la ciencia cognitiva puede ofrecer como respuesta a los interrogantes que el lenguaje suscita: cómo funciona, como lo aprenden los niños, como cambia, como es elaborado por el cerebro y como evoluciona. Tal como expresa el titulo, la tesis principal de este libro es que el lenguaje constituye un instinto humano incorporado a nuestro cerebro por la evolucion, del mismo modo que tejer las telas en las arañas o el canto en las aves.

Libro incluido en Biblioteca Selecta Forum de Barcelona 2004 En Cómo funciona la mente (1997), Steven Pinker , uno de los especialistas más destacados en el panorama actual de las ciencias cognitivas, se propone un objetivo analogo al que desarrollo en su obra El instinto del lenguaje (1994), aclamada por la critica y galardonada con numerosos premios cientificos, en la cual mostraba como el instinto del lenguaje habia sido incorporado a traves de la evolucion a nuestro cerebro, del mismo modo en que la capacidad de tejer sus telas lo fue en las arañas o el canto, en las aves. En esta nueva aventura intelectual, Pinker extiende a las funciones mentales el mismo objetivo: explicar como operan y cual es la razon por la que funcionan del modo en que lo hacen, como han evolucionado y de que modo nos permiten ver, pensar y sentir, reir e interactuar, disfrutar de las artes y ahondar en los misterios de la vida. Las primeras paginas del libro clarifican la metodologia que se empleara. Como si tuviera ante si un aparato de ultima tecnologia, el autor expone en el prefacio y En dotacion de serie la metodologia de la ingenieria inversa que utilizara para adentrarse en el modo operativo de la mente y la funcion que ha venido cumpliendo en un entorno diseñado por seleccion natural en el cual evolucionaron nuestros antepasado.

In May 2005 Penguin will publish 70 unique titles to celebrate the company's 70th birthday. The titles in the Pocket Penguins series are emblematic of the renowned breadth of quality of the Penguin list and will hark back to Penguin founder Allen Lane's vision of 'good books for all'. Award-winning writer and psychologist Steven Pinker has continually shown that provocative, complex ideas can be translated into bestsellers. In this extract from How the Mind Works he takes us deep into the human psyche as he considers people's desire for happiness, the power of the emotions and how love can come to conquer all.

In the past century many people have assumed that we are shaped by our environment: a blank slate waiting to be inscribed by upbringing and culture, with innate abilities playing little part. Steven Pinker's profound and essential book shows that this view denies the heart of our being: human nature. We are prepared for sex, aggression and jealousy - and also love, compassion and reason. Violence is not just a product of society; male and female minds are different; the genes we give our children shape them more than our parenting practices. To acknowledge our nature, Pinker shows, is not to condone inequality or callousness, but ultimately to understand the very foundations of humanity.