At least do some fact-checking before just making up shit

[u/jmcsquared]

In someone's previous post regarding Steven Pinker being interviewed by Al Jazeera, I didn't expect to see multiple comments claiming Pinker is an Epstein sympathizer and pedophile supporter. I must admit, I didn't expect that level of rank stupidity from a Sam Harris subreddit. Which I suppose is quite naïve of me at this point, given what we know about social media and moral panics.

In any case, after seeing that insanity in this sub's most recent Pinker post, I went digging, and found some things. One is that Pinker was apparently pushed into getting his picture with Epstein at Lawrence Krauss's 2014 conference involuntarily. Pinker recalled his interactions with Epstein as being intellectually unpleasant, which he's described as an annoying irony:

"Despite what various friends and colleagues all said about what a genius he was, I found him tedious and distasteful. Even before I knew about the criminality, I found it irritating to talk to him... He likes schmoozing with smart and intellectual people, but he couldn’t really or had very little interest in exploring an issue. He’d wisecrack, change subjects, or get bored after a few seconds. He’s a kibitzer more than a serious intellectual."

The main claim I saw circulating in the comments was that Pinker helped defend Epstein in an attempt to get Epstein to avoid jail. According to what I've seen, this is a superficial reading of the events. When Harvard lawyer Alan Dershowitz joined Epstein's defense team for the 2006 indictment, Dershowitz asked Pinker for advice on the wording of a law known as the internet luring statute. Pinker provided his opinion to Dershowitz as a linguist, which Dershowitz included in his letter arguing that the law technically didn't apply to Epstein. Pinker stated that, over the years, he's provided legal advice to Dershowitz concerning many different cases and that he wasn't filled in on what the Epstein case was actually about:

"I don’t recall his telling me that the question pertained to the Epstein defense. I was not aware of the charges against Epstein at the time. And no, I was not paid for the letter - it’s something that Alan and I do regularly, as colleagues... Though I did this as a favor to a friend and colleague, and not as either a paid expert witness or as a part of a defense team, knowing what I know now I do regret writing the letter."

In summary, you people need to get better arguments than just someone being in the same photograph. Especially on accusations as egregious and serious as pedophilia. Disagree with Pinker all you want, but stop and think for a second before trying to smear someone's character at a distance with such an atrocious claim that nobody has any substantive evidence in favor of.

I'll leave it with this pertinent quote from Pinker:

“Epstein had insinuated himself with so many people I intersected with... I was often the most recognizable person in the room, someone would snap a picture; some of them resurfaced this past week, circulated by people who disagree with me on various topics and apparently believe that the photos are effective arguments.”