Home / Office Hours with Arthur Brooks / 4 Ways to Use Common Knowledge to be Happier with Steven Pinker

4 Ways to Use Common Knowledge to be Happier with Steven Pinker

Oct 06, 2025

44 min

Description

Learn more about your affect profile by taking the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule quiz (PANAS) here. So much of life depends not only on what we know, but also on what we know that others know as well. This shared awareness—what social scientists call common knowledge—explains how we ...

Learn more about your affect profile by taking the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule quiz (PANAS) here.

So much of life depends not only on what we know, but also on what we know that others know as well. This shared awareness—what social scientists call common knowledge—explains how we cooperate, why markets rise and fall, and why silence in the face of cancel culture is so damaging.

In this episode of Office Hours, I’m joined by Dr. Steven Pinker, Harvard psychologist and bestselling author of The Language Instinct and Enlightenment Now. We discuss his new book, When Everyone Knows That Everyone Knows, and explore how common knowledge influences cooperation, politics, humor, and even happiness, and why using it as a gift, not a weapon, can help us all live better.

We cover:

• What common knowledge really is and why it matters in everyday life

• How nonverbal signals like eye contact or laughter shape our social lives

• Why so many Americans hide their true beliefs

• 4 principles that can help you live a happier, more meaningful life

• How to practice radical honesty with clarity and kindness

We’d love to hear any feedback you have. Please email us at [email protected]. And please leave a review on Apple or Spotify. Thanks for listening!

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