There was one gentleman in the audience that was truly enjoy himself during this lecture.

For those who want to skip through the parts Grammar 2:04 Swearing 13:00 Innuendo 33:00

Quite possibly one of the most interesting talks I've seen. Steven Pinker illustrates the concepts and thoughts of his study in such a coherent way that I end up feeling like a genius after many of his talks. Love it.

Pinker is one of the most eloquent and skilled speakers out there so it's hilarious to hear him say all these crude phrases lol

Mr. Steven Pinker, I just want to say that I think you explained perfectly, not well, perfectly why swearwords are considered bad. I truly admire your details! Thank you very much for making everything perfectly clear!

Vsauce

The man is a comedic genius. I doubt people have ever laughed so hard during a seminar.

2:40 there’s a: -theory of physics embedded in our language -concept of space in our prepositions -conception of matter in our nouns -conception of time in our tenses -conception of causality in our verbs

Why is it so satisfying to hear Steven Pinker swear? xD

I like his way of teaching here. its indeed very informative, but the topic is interesting and by design is ripe for jokes and humor. its not a boring lecture, but actually teaches you about something cool.

When science and stand-up comedy are perfectly mixed.

Wow... only 408 views and no comments? What's wrong with people, lol. This was such an interesting talk. Language truly is an incredibly fascinating thing.

Thank You, Vsauce !

Thank you. Pinky's the bomb! There is nothing he can write or lecture one should miss.

I laughed out loud at the beginning warning.

Swear words are fully integrated into my English. I'm glad i saw this, I'm glad i tick so many of the boxes i saw here. Upon hearing just one 'bad word' most people get stunned or offended, seems they don't like my English 😂

he is so awesome and one of a kind

This was hilarious and enlightening simultaneously. I'm still a bit off put by a scientific approach to language; my man seems to be lacking some sociocultural angles in his analysis, but I suppose it is one of our best attempts at conceptualizing language. Love it!

Buddy at 15:00 is having a hard time with his hiccough-laugh

Really comical scientific approach to linguistics, I enjoyed it :)

this was fucking intersting. i call that sarcastic ephymistic dysphemism to express how interesting it was

carlin would have loved this

ආදරණීය විශ්ව මාතාවට ස්තුතියි ස්තුතියි ස්තුතියි

Very interesting, definitely worth the watch! Also, we share the same last name haha, but great talk!

Interesting lecture. But i would like to read one person in the comments section claim they have ever said, or ever heard anyone say anything even close to: "Can i have any reading behind the dinner?"

interesting point on dominance @ 42:00 wonder if phrases like "it would be awesome if you could pass the guacamole" are more rare in collectivist societies where dominance is less of a threat.

Good Jób !

i love stephen pinker, i mean i love him...

"Would you come see my etchings for $1 million?" "OK." "Would you come see them for $1 hundred?" "Of course not! What do you think I am?" "We have already established that. Now we are just negotiating price." This was the way my uncle (Robert Moody Smith, 1915-1998) told the "etchings" joke. I was maybe 35 years old when all of a sudden I started laughing because I finally got the joke. :)

From Cognitive Media's website - our external animation partners :)

As a Host/Hostess, my strategy is to put a tip jar prominently on my lectern, and make the whole thing legitimate. It's like Express Toll Lanes on the freeway. You'll get there faster (either to your destination or your table) if you pay, but you'll still get there if you don't pay.

Around 47 minutes he quotes Nora Ephron. If you never appreciated her wit, this will help you understand. :) (Quoted from "When Harry Met Sally".)

who is the dude at the end interviewing Pinker?

that speech is fucking awesome ;)

That guy cackling is fucking hilarious.

Dat mane!

DAT LAUGHHHH

Pinker has the Michael Commons' Model of Hierarchical Complexity Level 14 at least, and possible 15.

This speech sounds almost identical to the Google Talk given somewhat earlier.

PINKERSLAP!

Steven picked his nose in the thumbnail. +1 to whoever post the exact time of the moment.

@pawsoned Actually, he IS a scientist. He's an experimental psychologist, not a linguist.

@LookingForTheArbiter Youneed to get your head checked, this talk is brilliant

@thermos26 Why do you think so? Just because he is a professor and argues in an opaque way? Tell me what prominent experiments has he ever done, apart from variations on the Chomskyan 'wug' tests?

@pawsoned I think that he is a psychologist because he has a Ph.D. in Psychology, and is a professor of Psychology, not Linguistics. It's rather simple. I was not commenting on the quality of his research.

@pawsoned Well, if you had simply said that he was discussing research that was not his own, I would not have had a problem with your original comment.

my fav part is 0:29:04

Hey Pinker, Beethoven wants his hair back.

haha, great! I love cognitive science videos.

ChiefDen4, If you check on RSA Animate version of this video, you'll see the donkey-like laugh has been drawn as a laughing hyena. Hilarious!

Bloody Hyena keeps appearing in these videos.

Beware of oversimplification by academics: the bribe: In India, it is said one must bribe to get a government contract, yet of all those who pay a bribe, only one gets the contract, and the losers don't get a refund, but are welcome to try again on the next contract with another bribe. There, non-bribing simply means you won't be considered. And part of the winning bribe may be the promise of a piece of the action on the backend, your collateral being your safety. Its a bit more complex.

@thermos26 Thank you for explaining this because after reading "The language Instinct" "The Blank Slate" "Words and Rules" "Who the Mind Works" and now "The Stuff of Thought" it is not clear what his research really consists of, notwithstanding persistent and pointless semantic hairsplitting. Sorry, but there was no relevant data pertaining to experimental psychology that was his.

uh, furniture???

28:20 striking a cool pose, informal environment where we do not have to watch our language.

Thumbs up if you cant help but laugh when the guy with weird laugh, laughs!

Hahahahaha, nice

apparantly most conversation is communicated by body posture movement etc, and is often misread, understood, misinterpreted. Include the complexity of our verbal language explained within this vid and you get; - NO wonder I never know what the F^*? is going on

2:30

we say after dark as we intend to say "after it gets dark" not literally after dark.

@Jalenxx lol.

entertaining, even with the strong languages!

I think he mixed up common knowledge a mutual knowledge at the end there

Dear uploader, we all know it was Steven Pinker talking... Why not focus on the slides he was sharing?

Holy shit! Hahahahaha

Wow....I've never heard Steven Pinker swear so much haha

what is that story the blind man and the elephant?

I wonder if I need to have as many gray hairs as he does to hold a lecture as revealing (about human nature).

I don't discredit the man, but after watching this lecture fully twice, I still fail to comprehend the arguments he makes. Could anyone explain what message Mr. Pinker is trying to convey besides the obscure "language is a window into human nature"?

faster and faster and faster and faster and faster

How many gray hairs do I need to have to watch the whole lecture.

Where is the very strong language the puritans promised?

uhhhh, what?

I can't believe how many negative comments this video has received. Have you any idea how long it takes to achieve the acknowledged basics as a certified psychologist? this man has gone on to specialise in language, which even when he reveals something very simple, there has been years of science gone into that revelation. maybe the content of this speech contains material found in other lectures by him, but have you heard in speak on blood lust in religion etc? fucking mind-blowing!

People tend to get grey hair either because of their age, or due to prolonged periods of high stress. He is likely wondering how many years of high stress work Steven has gone through to get to where he is now. I don't think he was trying to be profound, but trying to show his admiration for a man he respects.

Your comment has nothing to do with Steven Pinker at all.

I just realized that he kinda looks like a liberal Jordan Peterson and now I feel strange.

sun rises in the east or sun sets west ,,,,although we know sun is stationary.

"This video contains strong language."..... have these people been listening to conversations amongst ten year olds lately ? People are advised to grow a pair....

This video has strong language? Ever heard of Rap music?

Pinker, the only language you know is English! It is amazing that growing up in Quebec you never even learned French. Your monolingual bias blinds you just as your master - Chomsky is limited by his monolingualism.

:-))) ...understanding human nature will get you grey hairs...

28:07-28:15 FAV BIT OF THE VIDEO haaha

he said the n-word!!!!!!!!! Get the police!!! hahaha

This guy curses more than a sailor! :)

would the Non-sense a responsible,under specific circumstances,of producing the tow processes,or one of them at least? so why bothered fulfilling such knowledge? this is purposeless,I think,and leads nowhere but to the None-sense itself again.In addition,langues are totally completed,semantically. but thoughts aren't in order to get syntax rebuild every time a group of people need to be orgasmed for instance.

I think that his speech lacks substantial insight. He may be a scientist, but his lecture, however funny and entertaining leaves a bit to be desired. I mean what does it teach apart from quoting a few amusing examples?

hey dont neglect philosophy now