Office Hours with Arthur Brooks

4 Ways to Use Common Knowledge to be Happier with Steven Pinker

16 snips
Oct 6, 2025
Steven Pinker, a Harvard psychologist and bestselling author known for works like The Language Instinct, shares insights from his latest book, When Everyone Knows That Everyone Knows. He discusses how common knowledge shapes our lives, influencing cooperation and social dynamics. Pinker highlights the power of nonverbal cues like laughter in fostering connection and the dangers of cancel culture when shared beliefs are suppressed. He also offers four principles to enhance personal happiness and encourages using common knowledge as a gift rather than a weapon.
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INSIGHT

What Common Knowledge Is

  • Common knowledge means everyone knows that everyone knows something, iterated indefinitely.
  • It synchronizes consciousness and coordinates group behavior through public signals.
INSIGHT

Signals Make Knowledge Public

  • Nonverbal signals like eye contact, laughter, and crying create common knowledge without conscious recursion.
  • These conspicuous signals align people’s behavior by making private states publicly visible.
INSIGHT

Common Knowledge Threatens Dictators

  • Dictators fear public common knowledge because visible collective dissent removes their ability to intimidate.
  • Public demonstrations reveal mutual grievances and can overwhelm state coercion.
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