No. 96 in America · Week of November 9, 2026
Psychologist, Harvard
Steven Pinker is a cognitive psychologist at Harvard and the author of books on language, mind and human progress.
Photo: Christopher Michel, CC BY-SA 4.0
Score breakdown
Nine parts, measured fresh each week. This is where Steven Pinker's points came from, and the evidence behind each one.
Debate record
Argued for human progress at the Munk Debates against Malcolm Gladwell and Alain de Botton.
Pinker is the Johnstone Family Professor of Psychology at Harvard. Born in Canada, he has worked in the United States for decades.
He advocates evolutionary psychology and the computational theory of mind.
On the record
2015
November 6, 2015
Formal debateWon the audience vote
Against Malcolm Gladwell and Alain de Botton · Munk Debates, Toronto
Pinker and Matt Ridley argued yes. Before the debate, 71 percent of the audience already agreed.
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