ClaimsSteven Pinker

“Military history would have unfolded very differently if this was a readily available tactic, and studies of contemporary suicide terrorists have shown that special circumstances have to be engineered to entice men into it.”

Steven Pinker, essay author 18 June 2012 The False Allure of Group Selection (Edge.org) archived copy

Factual Philosophy, ethics and society

Studies of contemporary suicide terrorists show special circumstances must be engineered to entice men into suicide attacks.

Not researched Checkable, but outside the sample that was researched.

Factual: Statements about the present or the past, checked against the record: did they hold up?

Cite this claim

Steven Pinker, “Studies of contemporary suicide terrorists show special circumstances must be engineered to entice men into suicide attacks.” (said 18 June 2012). Verdict: not researched. Reliability API, claim c_e5b2e5f476bd, method 0.1.0+28da144b, dataset release v1.1.2. https://epistacklabs.com/claims/c_e5b2e5f476bd

This claim is in dataset release v1.1.2, with the same verdict.

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More factual claims by Steven Pinker

  1. Mostly true Factual 11 October 2026
    “But in other kinds violence, such as homicides, the progress has definitely continued.”

    Progress against homicide has definitely continued, with homicide rates for most countries and for the world as a whole better now than 15 years ago.

  2. Mostly true Factual 11 October 2026
    “I float a number of hypotheses as to why cooperation and human flourishing in general have increased.”

    Pinker said he floats a number of hypotheses as to why cooperation and human flourishing in general have increased.

  3. Mostly true Factual 11 October 2026
    “Those were as old as civilisation.”

    Slavery and imperialism were as old as civilisation, predating the Enlightenment.

  4. Mixed Factual 26 September 2026
    “Nuclear doomsday scenarios in the 1960s set off not disarmament but an arms race with the Soviets.”

    Nuclear doomsday scenarios in the 1960s set off an arms race with the Soviets rather than disarmament.

  5. Mixed Factual 24 September 2025
    “More countries are democratic than not, even though if it’s fewer than it was 20 years ago.”

    More countries are democratic than not, though fewer than 20 years ago.

All of them

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