Harvard professor ‘trolled by speech police’

A HARVARD professor and celebrated intellectual whose most recent book was described by Bill Gates as “my new favourite book of all time” has become the latest target in America’s “culture wars”.

Steven Pinker, 65, a cognitive psychologist and popular science author, has been accused of playing down concerns about racial justice and sexism.

More than 550 academics signed a letter seeking to remove him from the list of “distinguished fellows” of the Linguistic Society of America.

They gave as evidence six of his tweets dating back to 2014, and his 2011 description of a man who shot four muggers as “mild-mannered”.

“Dr Pinker has a history of speaking over genuine grievances and downplaying injustices, frequently by misrepresenting facts, and at the exact moments when Black and Brown people are mobilising against systemic racism and for crucial changes,” their letter stated. The society’s executive committee declined to remove him last week, stating: “It is not the mission of the society to control the opinions of its members, nor their expression.”

The move to condemn Dr Pinker came after 153 intellectuals and writers signed a letter in Harper’s Magazine that criticised the current intellectual climate – which has been termed “cancel culture” – describing it as “intolerant”.

Dr Pinker has called his critics as “speech police” who “have trolled through my writings to find offensive lines and adjectives”.