What is truly arresting about our kind is better captured in the story of the Tower of Babel, in which humanity, speaking a single language, came so close to reaching heaven that God himself felt threatened.

Steven Pinker
About This Quote

This quote is in reference to the original story in Genesis in which people were given permission to build a tower that would reach to the heavens. God was upset about this and decided to stop them before they could finish what they were building. Many people believe that God stopped humanity because he was worried that humans would attempt to reach heaven again. Others believe that he stopped humanity because he did not want humans to spread across the earth, perhaps believing that this would lead to their downfall.

Source: The Language Instinct: How The Mind Creates Language

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