ClaimsSteven Pinker

“A combination of we’ve got enough knowledge about cause and effect to know that throwing a virgin into the volcano will not, in fact, bring good weather or make a plague go away.”

Steven Pinker 24 September 2025 Steven Pinker on Coordination, Common Knowledge, and the Retreat of Liberal Enlightenment (Conversations with Tyler) archived copy

Not checkable

A combination of we’ve got enough knowledge about cause and effect to know that throwing a virgin into the volcano will not, in fact, bring…

Not checkable An opinion, value judgement or statement with nothing to check.

Not checkable: An opinion, value judgement or statement with nothing to check. Not scored.

Cite this claim

Steven Pinker, “A combination of we’ve got enough knowledge about cause and effect to know that throwing a virgin into the volcano will not, in fact, bring…” (said 24 September 2025). Verdict: not checkable. Reliability API, claim c_eab92d9cda28, method 0.1.0+28da144b, dataset release v1.1.2. https://epistacklabs.com/claims/c_eab92d9cda28

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

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