Steven Pinker: When Everyone Knows That Everyone Knows . . .

What’s common about common knowledge, and how does it become common? Common knowledge—the awareness of how others think and even how others think others think—is needed for social coordination, things as basic as driving on the same side of the road or using paper currency. And it has a hidden logic that makes it all work.

Cognitive psychologist and author Steven Pinker returns to Commonwealth Club World Affairs in Silicon Valley to explore some of the paradoxes of human behavior. It’s the subject of his latest book, When Everyone Knows That Everyone Knows . . .: Common Knowledge and the Mysteries of Money, Power, and Everyday Life.

Pinker addresses issues as seemingly disparate as why people hoard toilet paper when an emergency breaks, why crypto ads clog up Super Bowl advertising, why Russian officials arrested a protester carrying a blank sign, or even why everyone seems to agree that life would be unbearable if everyone was completely honest at all times. Tying it all together, he says, is our ability to know what others think and what others think about what others think . . . on and on, ad infinitum.

This program is supported by the Ken & Jaclyn Broad Family Fund. All in-person tickets include a copy of the book WHEN EVERYONE KNOWS THAT EVERYONE KNOWS.

Santa Clara UniversityLouis B. Mayer Theatre (near Franklin and Lafayette St)500 El Camino RealSanta Clara, CA 95053

Click here for event parking directions.

Steven Pinker, Johnstone Professor of Psychology, Harvard University; Author, When Everyone Knows That Everyone Knows…: Common Knowledge and the Mysteries of Money, Power, and Everyday Life

Moderator TBA

5:45 p.m. doors open & check-in6:30–7:30 p.m. program(all times Pacific Time)

Host or Publisher Inforum at the Commonwealth Club