Well organized and clearly explained. The problems arise from Pinker’s inability to keep himself out of the narrative ... A book can be bad without its thesis being untrue. That, at least, should be common knowledge.
Foregrounds Steven Pinker’s many virtues as a populariser of science: his lucid style, his ability to marshal technical research for a general audience ... Pinker ranges far and wide, showing how common knowledge plays a role in everything from laughter and tears, to euphemism and flirtation ... The nature of the book’s central phenomenon — common knowledge — is left impressionistic, although Pinker engagingly outlines its potential applications. The essence of common knowledge itself is not yet a matter of common knowledge.
