Stay Tuned with Preet Common Knowledge in the Trump Era (with Steven Pinker)
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Sep 25, 2025 
Steven Pinker, a renowned cognitive psychologist and Harvard professor, delves into his book on common knowledge and its impact on social norms. He explains how shared awareness shapes collective behavior and why clear academic writing is essential. Pinker connects common knowledge to everything from traffic norms to market speculation, highlighting how misinformation can undermine trust. The conversation also touches on how political dynamics have shifted under Trump's influence, showing the fragility of established norms.
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What 'Common Knowledge' Really Means
- Common knowledge means not only that everyone knows a fact, but that everyone knows that everyone knows it ad infinitum.
- Public, conspicuous events or signals give the intuition of this infinite mutual awareness without literal infinite thoughts.
Language Creates Coordination
- Language and public announcements create common knowledge by making information mutually visible and audibly shared.
- Once generated, common knowledge enables coordination that private knowledge alone cannot achieve.
How Norms Depend On Mutual Awareness
- Social norms function only when people expect others to know and enforce them informally.
- Common knowledge allows bystanders to sanction violators because they trust collective backing.
