@baldur@toot.cafe @Dangerous_beans@aus.social Sorry to barge in but I have a few extra details to share about Punker that might be of interest. From the linked article: Harvard’s Program for Evolutionary Dynamics (PED, yes, PED), where Pinker was a regular, closed ignominiously in 2021. It was closed because its founder, Martin Nowak, was funded by Epstein and allowed Epstein a private office where he could do whatever it is he did there. Harvard had harsh words about all of this and it is a disgraceful stain on Nowak's career (to put it mildly). Pinker has, from relatively early in his academic career, associated with and supported race scientists. Keira Havens wrote a remarkable series, "Box or Rocks", on Medium that, among many other things, dissects Pinker's associations with and defenses of race scientists, biological essentialists, and associated villains. It's well worth reading in full starting here: https://medium.com/@Keira_Havens/box-of-rocks-b8aec0c8710e . Part 1 does not refer to Pinker but later parts do. From part 2: Charles Murray dedicated a book to a billionaire that collects Nazi memorabilia, right there on page 5, and claims brotherhood with him in another. A researcher in Denmark asked 140 people, including Richard Spencer, for help when his institution sanctioned him for using falsified data in a publication called “Decay of the West.” Spencer didn’t respond that I know of, but Stephen Pinker (sic) did — twice. Part 3 gets into Pinker's infamous public debate with Stephen Jay Gould, who handed Pinker his ass and arguably ushered in the intellectual end of evolutionary psychology. It also has a rap sheet starting in 1999 of some of the bad actors and organizations Pinker has defended or been involved with. Pinker has spent his life defending those who would rank humans from best to worst, obscuring the origins and conclusions of their ideas just enough to weave them into our conversations and assumptions. At no point in his journey has he reconsidered his commitment to the bit. A lot of folks use the word "fascism" to describe this belief in biological essentialism that Pinker has spent his career defending and popularizing. Whatever you choose to call it, it's not surprising that people who love his books and thought turn out to be toxic.