Summary Of Steven Pinker's Revenge Of The Nerds
Primates to People: Steven Pinker’s View of Cognitive Evolution
Natural selection, also known as the survival of the fittest, is the driving force of evolution which affects every aspect of life including cognition and intelligence. The development of complex brains and advanced thought aided our ancestors’ survival and facilitated the progression towards modern human intelligence. In “Revenge of the Nerds,” Steven Pinker articulates upon numerous reasons and evidence to support his main claim that intelligence and the mind have been constantly evolving through natural selection since the primate first entered the “cognitive niche.”
Pinker begins his argument by explaining his first sub-claim that our early ancestors possessed four quintessential …show more content…
He dismisses the idea the Homo sapiens from that time had the same minds as ours and firmly believes the minds and bodies of these so-called “modern” humans must have evolved to become those of people today. Then he proceeds to acknowledge the significance of the mitochondrial Eve, the most recent all-female-line ancestor that humanity shares, in marking the end of human evolution. He responds by stating that “Eve is not our most recent common ancestor… the most recent common ancestor along a mixed-sex line of descendants lived much later” (204). The final question he acknowledges -- whether we are still evolving – is used as a warrant to connect his final sub-claim to his main claim. He responds to this question by concluding that humans do not seem to be evolving biologically, partially due to the fact that our species has somewhat reached the rational limits of its habitat-exploiting potential. Cognitive evolution, however, may be made possible seeing that “the social sciences are filled with claims that new kinds of adaptation and selection have extended the biological kind” (205).
The argument which Steven Pinker asserts in “Revenge of the Nerds” is ultimately grounded in his claim that “our minds and our way of life evolved together” (205). From the very beginnings
Natural selection, also known as the survival of the fittest, is the driving force of evolution which affects every aspect of life including cognition and intelligence. The development of complex brains and advanced thought aided our ancestors’ survival and facilitated the progression towards modern human intelligence. In “Revenge of the Nerds,” Steven Pinker articulates upon numerous reasons and evidence to support his main claim that intelligence and the mind have been constantly evolving through natural selection since the primate first entered the “cognitive niche.”
Pinker begins his argument by explaining his first sub-claim that our early ancestors possessed four quintessential …show more content…
He dismisses the idea the Homo sapiens from that time had the same minds as ours and firmly believes the minds and bodies of these so-called “modern” humans must have evolved to become those of people today. Then he proceeds to acknowledge the significance of the mitochondrial Eve, the most recent all-female-line ancestor that humanity shares, in marking the end of human evolution. He responds by stating that “Eve is not our most recent common ancestor… the most recent common ancestor along a mixed-sex line of descendants lived much later” (204). The final question he acknowledges -- whether we are still evolving – is used as a warrant to connect his final sub-claim to his main claim. He responds to this question by concluding that humans do not seem to be evolving biologically, partially due to the fact that our species has somewhat reached the rational limits of its habitat-exploiting potential. Cognitive evolution, however, may be made possible seeing that “the social sciences are filled with claims that new kinds of adaptation and selection have extended the biological kind” (205).
The argument which Steven Pinker asserts in “Revenge of the Nerds” is ultimately grounded in his claim that “our minds and our way of life evolved together” (205). From the very beginnings