Steven Pinker (1954- ) Psycholinguist, evolutionary psychologist, and master of the modern intellectual nonsense book. Following the traditions of Dr. Seuss and Dr. Phil in creating wondrous imaginary worlds for simple folk, Pinker has written big, fat, and wordy books based on equally imaginary premises for the faux intellectual in all of us. Of note in his substantial corpus of works are 'How the Mind Works', in which he provides an imaginary account of the mind without mentioning once the brain; 'The Blank Slate', an intriguing rebuttal of the imaginary controversy about whether people are indeed blank slates with nary an instinct in their heads; and 'Phrenology: the Mind's New Old Science', in which our author finds distinct mental modules for hope, fear, stamp collecting, tidiness, and Britney Spears addiction residing in our cranial noggin.
