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The Stuff of Thought | Steven Pinker | Talks at Google

Talks at Google · talk · Watch on YouTube

Language & linguisticsPsychology & human behavior

What it is

Steven Pinker presents his book The Stuff of Thought at Google in 2007. He covers language as a window into human nature, including taboo words, swearing and the psychology and game theory of indirect speech like bribery.

Why Hacker News recommends it

HN commenters cite it for Pinker's analysis of profanity and of why talking about taboo words differs from using them.

  • 2 people recommended it
  • 2 different months
  • 0 strong recommendations
  • first 2010, last 2026

What HN commenters said

  1. “The 2nd youtube video[2] is the mostly the same material but it's the older one he presented at Google TechTalks.”

    Older Pinker presentation on language and ambiguity

    jasode, 2014-08 · Recommendation · in “An amateur linguist loses control of the language he invented (2012)”

  2. “For more on this topic, I recommend Steven Pinker's 2007 talk at Google.”

    Why people get upset over certain words

    ggreer, 2015-07 · Recommendation · in “The Evolution of Profanity”

Excerpts from Hacker News comments, linked to the originals. Summaries and labels were written by a language model from those comments.

Topics: steven pinker, profanity, psycholinguistics, taboo words, indirect speech

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