Steven Pinker & Michael Shermer: The Power of Common Knowledge in Human Behavior

Understanding Common Knowledge

• 💡 Common knowledge is defined as not just everyone knowing something, but everyone knowing that everyone knows it, and so on, ad infinitum.
• 🎯 This distinction is crucial for coordination, enabling people to make complementary choices essential for societal conventions like driving rules, the acceptance of money, and the formation of human relationships.
• 🧠 Common knowledge can be generated instantly through public, conspicuous signals such as laughter, crying, blushing, and eye contact, which are understood by all present.

Social Dynamics and Hidden Meanings

• 🎭 People often avoid generating common knowledge through politeness, euphemism, innuendo, or veiled threats and bribes to preserve existing social relationships or authority structures.
• ⚠️ Awkwardness and outrage arise when there's a mismatch between expected relationship types or when unspoken private knowledge is