The Human Mind
How the Mind Works
Steven Pinker, professor of psychology and director of the Center of Cognitive Neuroscience at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, discusses his 1997 publication, How the Mind Works (1997). Pinker, who previously authored The Language Instinct: How the Mind Creates Language (1994), focuses this lecture on his theories about how the human brain works, explaining the engineering and apparent quirks of brain. His theories are based heavily on evolutionary psychology and terminology, including Computational Theory, and attempt to explain how the brain achieves intelligence. The lecture is followed by questions from the audience.
Did you know that donations cover nearly half of our costs?
As a nonprofit community and cultural center, The 92nd Street Y, New York relies on support from people like you. Your donation today helps us continue connecting you to the programs you love, no matter where in the world you are.
Sign up for access
To find out what personal data we collect and how we use it, view our
privacy policy.
© 2024 The Young Men’s and Young Women’s Hebrew Association
All Rights Reserved.
All material accessed via the 92NY website (“content”) is protected by copyright under U.S. Copyright laws and is the property of The Young Men’s and Young Women’s Hebrew Association or the party credited as the provider of the content. You may not copy, reproduce, distribute, publish, display, perform, modify, create derivative works, transmit, or in any way exploit any such content, nor may you distribute any part of this content over any network, including a local area network, sell or offer it for sale, or use such content to construct any kind of database. You may not alter or remove any copyright or other notice from copies of the content accessed via 92NY’s website. Copying or storing any content except as provided above is expressly prohibited without prior written permission of 92NY or the copyright holder identified in the individual content’s copyright notice.
Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this collection do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.