Here’s your post for today (auf Englisch). Perhaps Matthew or Greg will fill the gap.
Alert reader Chris sent me this information:
Just in case you hadn’t heard, Steve Pinker was this years recipient of the Richard Dawkins Award from Atheist Alliance of America. This YouTube video just went up with a lovely tribute from Richard and Steve gives a really nice acceptance speech. He was clearly very moved. The film quality isn’t so great but still well worth watching.
Congrats to Steve on a well-deserved honor!
Just watched this via RDFRS US. Lovely to hear Steve reciprocate his admiration for Richard. Particularly praising his superb literary skills and his superb books.
You gave me fright for a moment there, when I saw the headline, I thought it said: “Steve Pinker gets Darwin award”
Good choice and less controversial than at least one choice in the past…or is it? I suppose this pick might upset a couple of people we know, but if so, I can’t agree with them. Congratulations Dr. Pinker! Well deserved.
Beautiful. Choking back some tears at the moment. Both Dawkins and Pinker are responsible for a significant portion of my worldview today. I owe them so much.
+1 I share the same sentiment.
Reading The Blank Slate changed the course of my psychotherapy. It provided a solid scientific frame to place the somewhat woo-ish ideas that rise and fall in clinical psychology. I had a chance to meet Pinker, actually bump into on the street here in Cambridge and got a chance to thank him.
Then I envy you. I hope to meet Steven Pinker one day. But I don’t think he comes to Australia very often, if at all (unlike Richard Dawkins and Lawrence Krauss, say) .I have read The Blank Slate and Better Angels, How The Mind Works and The Language Instinct are on my to do list. Better Angels was an absolute masterpiece, and convinced me to be much more positive about the future.
+1 — I also admire Pinker enormously. I’m late on this thread because I’m still catching up on my internet forums after attending the AAA convention. I got a chance to talk to Pinker, ask him questions, listen to him talk to others with better questions and things to say. Very exciting. And I, too, thanked him.
(Hey, I’m on this video, btw — very briefly, near the end.)
Congratulations Mr. Pinker!
He had a few tears of his own when he was sitting at the table watching Dawkins’ video.
Reblogged this on hitchens67 Atheism WOW!! Campaign.
For one, briefFor one brief, horrible moment, I read the headline as “…Darwin Award”.
Dammit 🙂
Ekko post. 🙂
Nah, big fingers, small keys and osteoarthritis.
I read it that way too but in my defence, it was first thing in the morning, I had no contacts in or glasses on (I’m extremely myopic) & I was reading it on my BlackBerry. 🙂
I’d like to be called the Steven Pinker of anything too!
Loved that Richard Dawkins couldn’t resist a remark about Steven Pinker’s hair. 🙂