Why do people refuse to say what they see, and, what everyone knows…whether or not they’re willing to acknowledge it? Is there some benefit to keeping quiet, adhering to the “unwritten rules,” and, is there a time and place to break tradition?
Today, I’m joined by Harvard professor, Dr. Steven Pinker to answer these questions. We also discuss the difference between common knowledge and common wisdom, whether or not it’s hypocrisy to stay quiet about the unwritten rules, when to be radically honest or complacently quiet, how to judge risk in your honesty, how the “Abeline Paradox” will serve you, and the importance of male initiation.
Dr. Steven Pinker is a cognitive psychologist, linguist, and public intellectual known for his work on language, mind, and human nature. He earned a B.A. in psychology at McGill University and a Ph.D. in experimental psychology from Harvard University in 1979.
Over his career, he has held teaching and research posts at MIT, Stanford, and Harvard, where he now serves as the Johnstone Family Professor of Psychology. Pinker’s writings for general audiences—including The Language Instinct, How the Mind Works, The Blank Slate, The Better Angels of Our Nature, Enlightenment Now, and Rationality—seek to bridge rigorous science with public discourse.
His most recent book, When Everyone Knows That Everyone Knows…: Common Knowledge and the Mysteries of Money, Power, and Everyday Life, explores how humans reason about what others know and know that others know, and how this “common knowledge” shapes social coordination, political dynamics, economic behavior, and everyday interactions. In it, he argues that—what one person thinks another person thinks, and so on—is deeply embedded in how we make agreements, enforce norms, and maintain shared beliefs in society.
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