史蒂芬·平克
語言與心智研究權(quán)威
The gift of language is the single human trait that marks us all genetically, setting us apart from the rest of life.
語言天賦是唯一一個從基因上標(biāo)記我們所有人的特征，使我們與其他生命形式區(qū)分開來。
The more you know, the more you can know.
你知道的越多，你能知道的就越多。
The mind is what the brain does.
心智就是大腦的運作。
The brain is a naturally selected information processor.
大腦是一個經(jīng)過自然選擇的信息處理器。
The decline of violence may be the most significant and least-appreciated development in the history of our species.
暴力的減少可能是我們物種歷史上最重要卻最不被重視的發(fā)展。
We are all cut from the same genetic cloth, and that cloth was woven in Africa.
我們都來自同一塊基因布料，而這塊布料是在非洲編織的。
The human brain is a product of evolution, and so is the human mind.
人類大腦是進化的產(chǎn)物，人類心智也是如此。
The way to learn about the mind is to reverse-engineer it: to figure out what natural selection designed it to accomplish.
了解心靈的方法是對其進行逆向工程：弄清楚自然選擇設(shè)計它來完成什么任務(wù)。
Language is not a cultural artifact that we learn the way we learn to tell time or how the federal government works. Instead, it is a distinct piece of the biological makeup of our brains.
語言不是一種文化產(chǎn)物，不像我們學(xué)習(xí)報時或了解聯(lián)邦政府運作那樣。相反，它是我們大腦生物構(gòu)成的一個獨特部分。
The mind is a system of organs of computation, designed by natural selection to solve the kinds of problems our ancestors faced in their foraging way of life.
The purpose of education is to make up for the shortcomings in our instinctive ways of thinking.