Harvard Professor Explains The Rules of Writing — Steven Pinker

Video Description

I’m here at Harvard in the office of Steven Pinker. He’s written nine books and spent his life studying language, cognition, and writing. In this interview, we started with the practical: the rules of writing. But what makes him unique is that he’s been thinking about AI since the 1980s. So if you’re interested in doing great non-fiction writing in the age of LLMs, this interview is for you. 00:00:00 Intro 00:00:28 Why Is There So Much Bad Writing 00:07:05 How To Make Your Writing Visual 00:11:50 What Makes Writing So Much Harder Than Speaking 00:14:18 Why Examples Without Context Are Useless 00:20:07 What Makes Writing Beautiful 00:22:35 Why Academics Are Such Terrible Writers 00:25:14 What Kids Teach Us About Clear Explanations 00:28:33 Why Shorter Writing Is Always Better 00:34:53 Why AI Writing Feels So Bland 00:41:16 How AI Would Rewrite My Books Hey! I’m David Perell and I’m a writer, teacher, and podcaster. I believe writing online is one of the biggest opportunities in the world today. For the first time in human history, everybody can freely share their ideas with a global audience. I seek to help as many people publish their writing online as possible. Follow me Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-i-write/id1700171470 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2DjMSboniFAeGA8v9NpoPv X: https://x.com/david_perell