Steven Pinker and his other connections

I've mentioned here on occasion that Pinker fanboys freak out because I created a diagram (with associated text which they never seem to read) demonstrating Pinker's connections to the Right and/or purveyors of race "science." 

I've also noted previously on this blog that Steven Pinker appears to be a sacred cow of the media, and has escaped serious blow-back for his support of race science in a way that Andrew Sullivan, for example, has not. 

How did Steven Pinker, "celebrity intellectual" achieve this? Even after another celebrity intellectual, Malcolm Gladwell, called out Pinker's promotion of professional racist Steve Sailer, 12 years ago.

I've speculated on this before, suggesting it could be the Pinker PR machine or his lack of intellectual integrity, but another likely reason is that Pinker has the right connections.

In addition to his connections through colleges and connections to rich guys like Jeffrey Epstein and Bill Gates, Pinker is or has been, according to his CV on boards of 76 scientific, scholarly and public interest organizations - most of them are current.

Editorial Boards of Scientific and Scholarly Journals

1. American Journal of Bioethics: Neuroscience
2. Canadian Psychology, 2003-.
3. Cognition, 1982-2008.
4. Cognitive Science, 1991-1996.
5. Daedalus, 2002- .
6. Developmental Review, 2019- .
7. Earth & Sky, 2007- .
8. English Linguistics, 2003- .
9. Essays in Philosophy of Humanism, 2012– .
10. Evolution and Human Behavior, 1998- .
11. Evolution and Culture, 2020- .
12. Evolutionary Psychology, 2001- .
13. Evolutionary Psychological Science, 2014- .
14. Intercultural Pragmatics, 2003- .
15. International Journal of Bilingualism. 1996- .
16. Journal of Child Language, 1994-2004. 
17. Journal of Cognition and Culture, 2000- .
18. Journal of Evolutionary Psychology, 2014- .
19. Journal of Social, Evolutionary, and Cultural Psychology, 2008- .
20. Language Acquisition, 1990-2004; Advisory Board, 2004- .
21. Language and Dialogue, 2010- .
22. Mind & Society, 2002- .
23. PLoS ONE, 2006-2015.
24. PsyCh Journal, 2018- .
25. Psychonomic Bulletin and Review, 2014- .
26. The Evolutionary Review, 2008- .
27. The Humanist, 2007- .
28. The Scientific Study of Literature, 2010-.
29. Theoria et Historia Scientiarum: An International Journal for Interdisciplinary Studies, 2000- .
30. Trends in Cognitive Science, 2000-2010.
31. Words, 2002- .

Advisory Boards of Scientific, Scholarly, and Public Interest Organizations

1. Apolitical, 2018- .
2. Breakthrough Institute, Senior Fellow, 2018- .
3. Campus Freedom Network, 2009- .
4. Cellular Agricultural Society, 2020- .
5. Center for Empathy in International Affairs, 2015- .
6. Center for Inquiry Canada, 2016- .
7. Center for Research on Language, Mind, and Brain, McGill University, 2003- .
8. Cognitive Neuroscience Society, 1994- .
9. Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal, 1979- .
10. Counterweight, 2021- .
11. Cybereditions, 1998- .
12. The Decade of Behavior, 2003-2005
13. Diamond Sky Productions/The Day the Earth Smiled, 2013- .
14. E. O. Wilson Foundation, 2007- .
15. Endangered Language Fund, 1998- .
16. English for the Children, 2001-2004.
17. Environmental Progress, 2016– .
18. Ford Hall Forum, 2012- .
19. Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, 2007- .
20. The Foundations Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara, and Max Planck Society, 2019- .
21. Global Secular Council for the Scientific Study of Nontheism, 2014- .
22. HumanProgress.org
23. Institute for Science and Human Values, 2010- .
24. International Academy of Humanism, 2010- . 
25. International Association for the Study of Attention and Performance, 1992- .
26. Kärnfull Energi, Sweden, Pro Bono Advisory Board, 2020- .
27. National Writing Project Writers Council, 20106– .
28. Naturalism Research Project, Center for Inquiry.
29. NSF Science of Learning Center at Gallaudet University, 2011- .
30. Office of Public Policy, Center for Inquiry, Washington DC, 2006- .
31. Origins Project, Arizona State University, 2009- 2018.
32. Oxford University Press, Heretical Thought series, 2013- .
33. Paul G. Allen Institute for Brain Science, 2001- .
34. Peace Research Endowment, 2012- .
35. Planet Word Museum of Language Arts, 2016- .
36. Potential Energy, 2019- .
37. Rock-It Science, 2008- .
38. Secular Coalition for America, 2007- .
39. Sesame Workshop, 2012- .
40. Science for Peace, 2009- .
41. Science and Entertainment Exchange, National Academy of Sciences, 2008- .
42. Society for Evolutionary Analysis in Law, 2009- .
43. Society for Language Development, 2003- .
44. Student Achievement and Advocacy Services, 2002- .
45. World Science Festival, New York, 2006- .

In addition to those, he's an Advisor to FAIR; Honorary President of the Freedom From Religion Foundation; on the Board of Directors of Ideas Beyond Borders, and likely more.

I see two of the organizations listed by Pinker also have connections to the Right, including Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) funded by Koch - I mention FIRE in my Pinker diagram, and Human Progress, also Koch-funded. There are probably more.

I should have been paying better attention because I just noticed Pinker is publishing a new book due in September, Rationality: What It Is, Why It Seems Scarce, Why It Matters. I can't wait for the New Yorker magazine review - the New Yorker is one of the very few publications that isn't baffled by Pinker's bullshit. 

But then, Pinker isn't a New Yorker advisor nor a board member.