24 September 2025
Steven Pinker on Cancel Culture, Common Knowledge & AI
Into the Impossible With Brian Keating
About
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In this episode, Steven Pinker unpacks how common knowledge shapes everything from why rational people can’t agree to disagree to why markets boom and bust. We explore the risks of falsifying expert claims, the power of social norms, and whether civilization is held together by truths—or by the fictions we all agree to share.
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Key Takeaways:
00:00 Intro
00:58 When common knowledge is wrong
02:37 The role of common knowledge in social
coordination
08:48 Free will and determinism
14:48 Judging a book by its cover
21:08 Government suppression and common knowledge
30:08 The agree to disagree theorem
34:54 Generosity and charity in human affairs
41:12 The role of common knowledge in religious
beliefs
48:31 LLMs and common knowledge
50:39 Outro
Additional resources:
📚 When Everyone Knows That Everyone Knows… by Steven Pinker: https://a.co/d/bKJzohi
➡️ Follow me on your fav platforms:
✖️ Twitter: https://twitter.com/DrBrianKeating
🔔 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/DrBrianKeating?sub_confirmation=1
📝 Join my mailing list: https://briankeating.com/list
✍️ Check out my blog: https://briankeating.com/cosmic-musings/
🎙️ Follow my podcast: https://briankeating.com/podcast
—
Into the Impossible with Brian Keating is a podcast dedicated to all those who want to explore the universe within and beyond the known.
Make sure to follow/subscribe so you never miss an episode!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In this episode, Steven Pinker unpacks how common knowledge shapes everything from why rational people can’t agree to disagree to why markets boom and bust. We explore the risks of falsifying expert claims, the power of social norms, and whether civilization is held together by truths—or by the fictions we all agree to share.
—
Key Takeaways:
00:00 Intro
00:58 When common knowledge is wrong
02:37 The role of common knowledge in social
coordination
08:48 Free will and determinism
14:48 Judging a book by its cover
21:08 Government suppression and common knowledge
30:08 The agree to disagree theorem
34:54 Generosity and charity in human affairs
41:12 The role of common knowledge in religious
beliefs
48:31 LLMs and common knowledge
50:39 Outro
Additional resources:
📚 When Everyone Knows That Everyone Knows… by Steven Pinker: https://a.co/d/bKJzohi
➡️ Follow me on your fav platforms:
✖️ Twitter: https://twitter.com/DrBrianKeating
🔔 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/DrBrianKeating?sub_confirmation=1
📝 Join my mailing list: https://briankeating.com/list
✍️ Check out my blog: https://briankeating.com/cosmic-musings/
🎙️ Follow my podcast: https://briankeating.com/podcast
—
Into the Impossible with Brian Keating is a podcast dedicated to all those who want to explore the universe within and beyond the known.
Make sure to follow/subscribe so you never miss an episode!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices