Steven Pinker
Steven Pinker is a cognitive scientist at Harvard. His latest book ‘The Better Angels of Our Nature; A History of Violence and Humanity’ is published by Penguin in paperback
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This week's big questions: The end of men, vegetarianism and is Baumgartner a show off?
19 October 2012 06:26 PM
Is meat-eating uncivilised? Can we ever stop genocides? Are drone attacks justified?
Psychological Notes: The Stone Age mental toolbox we inherit
13 March 1999 12:02 AM
THE HUMAN brain is an extraordinary organ. It has allowed us to walk on the moon, to discover the roots of matter and life, and to play chess almost as well as a computer. But this virtuosity raises a puzzle. The brain of Homo sapiens achieved its modern form and size between 50,000 and 100,000 years ago, well before the invention of agriculture, civilisations and writing in the last 10,000 years. Our foraging ancestors had no occasions to do astrophysics or play chess, and natural selection would not have rewarded them with more babies if they had. How, then, did our outsize, science-ready brain evolve?
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Pope Francis: Being an atheist is alright as long as you do good
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What, let gays get married? We must be bonkers
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'Something passed underneath us, quite close': Airbus A320 has close encounter with UFO
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Lord of the Sings: Sir Christopher Lee, 91, to release heavy metal album
- 5 Two bailed after arrest over Woolwich attack Twitter comments
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Edward VIII’s phone calls - and how MI5 bugged them
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Sent down at the Old Bailey
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British football scores an own goal
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James Lawton
Sergio Garcia cracks as major fault line opens up again
