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The Hidden Force Controlling Money, Power and Your Choices

Steven Pinker is the Johnstone Professor of Psychology at Harvard University. He has won numerous prizes for his teaching, his research on language, cognition, and social relations, and his twelve books, including The Language Instinct, How the Mind Works, The Better Angels of Our Nature, and Rationality.

He is an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences, a two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist, and was named one of Time’s “100 Most Influential People in the World Today.”

His latest book, When Everyone Knows That Everyone Knows: Common Knowledge and the Mysteries of Money, Power, and Everyday Life, explores how shared awareness shapes cooperation, culture, and everyday decisions – from money and markets to politics, shame, love, and social media.

 


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What if the real power in your life isn’t what you know, but what you know that everyone else knows you know?

Money only works because we all believe everyone else believes in it. Governments stand because we assume everyone else will follow the rules. Even love, status, trust, and cancel culture are driven by invisible social agreements that live in our shared mind.

In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Steven Pinker, Harvard psychologist, cognitive scientist, bestselling author, and one of Time’s “100 Most Influential People in the World Today,” to decode the science of common knowledge and how it shapes everything from money and power to social media, revolutions, and your daily relationships.

We talk about why some ideas go viral and others don’t, why cancel culture and public shaming are so effective, why dictators fear free speech, and how misinformation hijacks our “collective brain.” Steven also shares powerful tools from his books Rationality and When Everyone Knows That Everyone Knows to help you think more clearly, protect yourself from cognitive biases, and become a better learner and communicator in a noisy, hyper-connected world.

If you’ve ever wondered why people follow the crowd, why markets boom and crash, why social norms feel so powerful, or how to stay rational when everyone is yelling online, this conversation will help you see the hidden architecture behind human behavior – and use that insight to upgrade your thinking, your learning, and your life.

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Take your first step by choosing one of the options above, and you will find everything you need to ignite your brilliant brain and unlock your exceptional life, allowing you to achieve and surpass all of your personal and professional goals.

 

Steven Pinker

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**This week’s show notes are taken from the video — enjoy!**

[02:32] Defining Common Knowledge: “When Everyone Knows That Everyone Knows”
[04:57] Shared vs. Individual Intelligence
[06:05] Common Knowledge in Money and Power
[08:24] The Role of Unwritten Social Scripts
[09:47] Language and Nonverbal Cues as Common Knowledge Generators
[11:38] Building Shared Understanding in Education and Communication
[13:38] Cancel Culture, Shaming, and Social Media
[19:26] Safeguarding Truth and Knowledge in the Digital Age
[22:58] Rationality Amidst Performance and Cognitive Biases
[28:11] AI and Common Knowledge Formation
[30:08] Radical Honesty, Rational Hypocrisy, and Benevolent Fictions
[33:32] The Hypocrisy in Democracy
[34:41] Revolutions and the Power of Shared Discontent
[37:54] Common Knowledge in Crypto and Financial Bubbles
[40:28] One Mental Upgrade for Humanity: Self-Awareness and Fallibility
[44:46] Learning and Collective Intelligence

 

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