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Harvard psychologist
on Time's top 100 list
(December
2004 Issue)
Steven Pinker, Ph.D. is a very busy man. Recently chosen as one
of Time magazine's 100 most influential people in the world today,
Pinker is the Johnstone Professor of Psychology at Harvard University.
In addition, he is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and
Sciences and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Generally recognized as an expert in the field of language development,
Pinker has written several well-received books on the psychology
of language. He also writes for several publications including The
New York Times, Time Magazine and Slate, conducts research on language
and cognition and serves on several editorial and advisory boards,
including the Usage Panel of The American Heritage Dictionary and
the scientific advisory board for The Decade of Behavior.
Pinker has received a number of awards for his research, including
the Troland Award from the National Academy of Sciences and several
prizes from the American Psychological Association. In addition,
Pinker has won a number of teaching prizes, and was included in
Esquire's Register of Outstanding Men and Women.
Chosen by Time as one of 20 "Scientists and Thinkers" who have
made significant donations to modern culture, Pinker shares the
honor with such notables as Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor,
physicist Edward Witten, the director for the CDC, Julie Gerberding,
and others. These top 20 are all men and women who "from their laboratories
and university chairs - and sometimes seats of power - have shaped
how we see the world, and ourselves," says the nominating article.
New England Psychologist's Catherine Robertson Souter caught
up with Pinker to ask him about this honor and what it must be like,
as a scientist, to be named in such a public arena.
Q: How has this nomination changed you or changed what you do…or
has it?
A: No, no it hasn't. The main recognition that I got was that the
head teaching assistant at the lecture course that I teach at Harvard
told the class and I got a nice ovation. He stood up and told the
class about the magazine article.
Q: So, what do you think about being on this list? It must be
a unique feeling to be chosen for something like this and be one
of only 20 in the science and thinkers field?
A: It was certainly a surprise and I can think of many other people
who are more deserving than I am … but I was certainly pleased.
Q: As far as your work itself, you have your hand in a lot of
pots. As a psychologist, as a human being, how do you manage?
A: I muddle along. I try to make the best possible use of my time.
I work while I am on planes, in cars, waiting to get onto planes.
I have gadgets that make work go more quickly - like my TREO - a
gadget that's a combination cell phone, PDA, email and web browser
so I can check my email while waiting to get on a plane. I work
hard. I work most evenings, and try to avoid anything that's not
either a lot of fun or necessary or work. I think about how I allocate
my time and put some effort into allocating it efficiently.
Q: For you personally, how did you get involved in this branch?
Why language development?
A: Cognitive psychology was my field. That's what I studied as an
undergraduate. Language is just one topic in cognitive psychology.
In fact, my Ph.D. thesis wasn't even on language. It was on mental
imagery. And I continued to do work in mental imagery and visual
cognition until about 10 years ago when I decided to devote all
of my research to language.
The work in language became more and more engrossing and I just
didn't have time to do everything.
Q: What are you working on currently?
A: An experimental program on language which includes FMRI studies
of language and language development in twins and studies of perception
of language structure by adults.
I just published an edited volume called "Best American Science
and Nature Writing of 2004,"an annual series of the best science
essays of the preceding year which has a different editor every
year and I was the editor for 2004.
At Harvard, I teach a large lecture course called "The Human Mind,"
with about 300 students. I serve on the advisory committee for the
Decade of Behavior, an initiative to encourage awareness of research
in the behavioral sciences.
Q: Is the goal to encourage awareness with the general population?
A: Well, yes, and with head policy makers.
Q: Where do you go from here after being named in the top 100,
will you be going for the top 50?
A: I guess the next step would be to aspire to that. Actually, I
have a paper coming out in Cognition, which engages in debate with
Noam Chomsky and Mark Hauser, a colleague at Harvard, on the evolution
of language. That will come out in a few months. I will also be
starting work on a new book on what language reveals about the mind.
That won't be out for a few years because I haven't begun to write
it yet.
Q: How did you get the news that you were chosen for this honor?
A: A friend who writes for Time tipped me off. He sent me an email
with a copy of the citation.
Q: What was your reaction?
A: Oh, delight. Sort of a "wait till I tell my Mom" feeling.
Q: Is there a ceremony or an official notification of some sort?
A: Nothing like that. Actually, the email was the only tip-off that
I got. I don't think they had any official mechanism for notifying
the people who were included. There was no plaque or ceremony. In
fact, if it wasn't for this friend I might have learned about it
by picking it up on the newsstand.
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