I get drawn in when I feel there is something deep and mysterious going on beneath the surface of something.
Interpretation
The quote expresses a fascination with the complexity and depth of experiences beyond their superficial appearance.
In this quote, Steven Pinker articulates his attraction to the underlying intricacies and hidden significances that may not be immediately apparent in any given situation or phenomenon. This perspective encourages one to seek a deeper understanding of the world, urging individuals to explore the subtleties and complexities that inform our experiences and interactions.
In practice
In a discussion about art, one could quote this to emphasize the importance of looking beyond the obvious.
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.
And each day brings it's pretty dust, Our soon-choked souls to fll And we forget because we must, And not because we will.
What must never be lost sight of is that a public functionary, in his capacity as functionary, produces absolutely nothing; that, on the contrary, he exists only on the products of the industrious class; and that he can consume nothing that has not been taken from the producers.
By simple common sense I don't believe in God, in none.
What does all this stuff about flying saucers amount to? What can it mean? What is the truth?
From principles is derived probability, but truth or certainty is obtained only from facts.
It is wrong to think that belief in freedom always leads to victory; we must always be prepared for it to lead to defeat. If we choose freedom, then we must be prepared to perish along with it.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.