Game theory can explain humanity’s biggest problem | Steven Pinker
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Oct 14, 2025
Harvard professor Steven Pinker dives into the pitfalls of rationality, highlighting the 'tragedy of the commons' where individual interests harm collective well-being. He discusses how social incentives can lead to belief adoption purely for status, jeopardizing the pursuit of truth. Despite these challenges, Pinker maintains optimism, citing scientific and moral advancements as signs of progress. He emphasizes the importance of humanistic values that resonate with universal experiences.
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insights INSIGHT
Enlightenment Values Aren't Natural
Enlightenment ideals of using knowledge to improve well-being are not innate to humans.
Steven Pinker argues we must nonetheless endorse and advance those ideals to prevent backsliding.
insights INSIGHT
Tragedy Of The Commons Drives Collective Harm
Game theory explains situations where individually rational actions lead to collective harm.
Pinker highlights the tragedy of the commons as central to many modern dilemmas like climate change and public belief.
insights INSIGHT
The Rationality Commons Problem
Rationality itself can be a commons that gets overexploited by social incentives.
People may adopt beliefs to please their group, which undermines a joint search for truth.
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Harvard professor Steven Pinker explains that everyone suffers from this rationality error.
Cognitive psychologist Steven Pinker argues that while the Enlightenment ideals of using knowledge to enhance human well-being are not inherently natural to us, they are vital for societal progress.
But one obstacle standing in front of greater progress centers on game theory, particularly situations involving the tragedy of the commons. The tragedy of the commons describes a predicament in which individuals independently pursue their own interests, leading to the overexploitation and eventual depletion of a shared resource, ultimately harming everyone's well-being.
According to Pinker, one example of a tragedy of the commons lies within what we choose to believe in public. An individual might be incentivized to believe in something because it will make them look good to people in their circle. But if enough people behave in this way, the likely consequence is that fewer people will be incentivized to earnestly search for truth.
Still, Pinker maintains a hopeful outlook. He cites advancements in science and morality as evidence of progress, and he argues that humanistic values hold an inherent advantage, as they appeal to universal human desires and shared experiences.
0:00 Knowledge: It’s unnatural
1:17 Game theory’s ‘tragedy of the commons’
1:59 The rationality commons
2:55 Is there hope for civilization?
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About Steven Pinker:
Steven Pinker is an experimental psychologist who conducts research in visual cognition, psycholinguistics, and social relations. He grew up in Montreal and earned his BA from McGill and his PhD from Harvard. Currently Johnstone Professor of Psychology at Harvard, he has also taught at Stanford and MIT. He has won numerous prizes for his research, his teaching, and his nine books, including The Language Instinct, How the Mind Works, The Blank Slate, The Better Angels of Our Nature, The Sense of Style, and Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress.
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