As promised, today we’re bringing you a full-length interview with Steven Pinker about his new book, When Everyone Knows That Everyone Knows . . .: Common Knowledge and the Mysteries of Money, Power, and Everyday Life.
What is common knowledge? For Steve, it is not conventional wisdom. Instead, it’s when everyone knows something and everyone knows that and everyone knows it. That may sound loopy, but the implications of common knowledge — how it’s produced, sustained, and manipulated — are profound.
“It's common knowledge,” Steve tells Rufus, “that makes humans human. Humans are not solitary. What makes humans humans is that we coordinate in groups — from couples to nations to, in some cases, the entire world — and I think common knowledge is the underpinning, the cement, the foundation of that ability to coordinate.”
(8:00) Why “coffee” doesn’t just mean coffee
(14:40) What blushes and laughter unintentionally reveal
(30:39) The real reason brands spend millions on Super Bowl ads
(35:00) How common knowledge explains cancel culture
(48:43) What happens to society when norms collapse?
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