Steven Pinker talks at Richard Dawkins

This is a lengthy conversation between Richard Dawkins and Steven Pinker. It took place in Boston at the Chevalier Theatre in September 2024. The video appeared on YouTube last month.

In my opinion, the important point is how deeply Pinker buys into the adaptationist perspective of Dawkins. He asks no challenging questions and he seems to be of the opinion that the Dawkins' view of evolution is the dominant view of evolutionary biologists. I'm an admirer of Richard Dawkins but I have not drunk the Kool-Aid.

Pinker has drunk the Kool-Aid and most of the video is him pontificating about his incorrect views of evolution.

Jerry Coyne published a few comments about the discussion between Dawkins and Pinker at: Dawkins and Pinker discuss evolution. Jerry also has very adaptationist leanings and he was most excited about the fact that both Dawkins and Pinker attack Lewontin and Gould. This is not a surprise. All three (Coyne, Dawkins, Pinker) are very sensitive about criticisms of adaptationism. That's fine but the very least they should do is to not misrepresent those criticisms.

And all three are more than happy to trash punctuated equilibria long after it has ceased to be an issue in evolutionary biology. (It's also notable that they still don't understand punctuated equilibria 50 years after it was first proposed. It has nothing to do with macromutations or hopeful monsters.)

This video is another example of the spread of misinformation in science. In this case it's mostly Pinker who is spreading misinformation—that's not surprising because he's very good at that. Dawkins knows better but he is not capable of direct confrontation so he never corrects Pinker's errors. That's a shame.

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