Language pedants hew to an oral tradition of shibboleths that have no basis in logic or style, that have been defied by great writers for centuries, and that have been disavowed by every thoughtful usage manual.
Interpretation
Language rules can be arbitrary and often don't reflect effective communication principles.
In this quote, Steven Pinker criticizes the strict adherence to outdated language rules that are often upheld by language purists. He argues that these arbitrary standards lack logical rationale and have been challenged by accomplished writers throughout history, reinforcing the idea that language evolves and should not be constrained by rigid dictates that may not enhance clarity or expression.
In practice
In a seminar about effective writing, one could emphasize the importance of understanding that not all language rules are absolute by citing Pinker's quote.
The foundation of individual rights is the assumption that people have wants and needs and are authorities on what those wants and needs are. If people's stated desires were just some kind of erasable inscription or reprogrammable brainwashing, any atrocity could be justified.
The linguistic clumsiness of tourists and students might be the price we pay for the linguistic genius we displayed as babies, just as the decrepitude of age in the price we pay for the vigor of youth.
If we are not to abandon values such as peace and equality, or our commitments to science and truth, then we must pry these values away from claims about our psychological makeup that are vulnerable to being proven false.
We adults protect ourselves with laws, police, workplace regulations and social norms and there is no conceivable reason why children should be left more vulnerable, other that laziness or callousness in considering what life is like from their point of view.
The idea that children are passive repositories to be shaped by their parents has been massively overstated. A child's peer group is a far greater determinant of its development and achievements than parental aspiration.
Reason is non-negotiable. Try to argue against it, or to exclude it from some realm of knowledge, and you've already lost the argument, because you're using reason to make your case. ... We don't "believe" in reason.
Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counsellors, and the most patient of teachers.
The best solution to income inequality is providing a high-quality education for everybody. In our highly technological, globalized economy, people without education will not be able to improve their economic situation.
Travel, in the younger sort, is a part of education; in the elder, a part of experience.
A few modern philosopher's assert that an individual's intelligence is a fixed quantity, a quantity which cannot be increased. We must protest and react against this brutal pessimism.... With practice, training, and above all, method, we manage to increase our attention, our memory, our judgment and literally to become more intelligent than we were before.
Education ought to foster the wish for truth, not the conviction that some particular creed is the truth.
To achieve our goals of educating bold and ambitious children, we must invest in enriching, quality early child care and learning.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.