The Blank Slate

[mcb]

I just came across this book and I am starting to read it now. It correctly used the word 'psychopath' in it's opening paragraps so it has my attention. I have not read anything new (for me) yet but just seeing this material in a book is a little surprising.

Publisher's Summary

In The Blank Slate, Steven Pinker, one of the world's leading experts on language and the mind, explores the idea of human nature and its moral, emotional, and political colorings. With characteristic wit, lucidity, and insight, Pinker argues that the dogma that the mind has no innate traits - a doctrine held by many intellectuals during the past century - denies our common humanity and our individual preferences, replaces objective analyses of social problems with feel-good slogans, and distorts our understanding of politics, violence, parenting, and the arts.
Injecting calm and rationality into debates that are notorious for ax-grinding and mud-slinging, Pinker shows the importance of an honest acknowledgment of human nature based on science and common sense.

 

[Jefferson]

Hi Megan,

What other thoughts do you have about this book after reading it (assuming you've gotten through it by now)? :)

 

[Laura]

I've got the book but haven't read it yet. I did read Pinker's "The Prehistory of the Mind" which I thought was excellent even if he didn't manage to convert me to his mindless evolution paradigm. It actually did the opposite: convinced me that information exists prior to matter and that evolution is a sub-system of life rather than the creator of it. I'm looking forward to reading this one; keep us posted on any juicy tidbits.

 

[Approaching Infinity]

I read about half of this book several years ago, then put it on hold and haven't gotten back to it. Pinker is quite the materialist (annoyingly so at times), but there IS a lot of good info in this book. For one, he shows how a lot of our modern ideas about politics basically trace back to schizoids (not that he uses the term, but you can tell by their words). In that sense it makes a good companion to Ponerology, because he essentially describes a pathocrat's worldview: human nature doesn't exist. I'll have to revisit this one when I finish some of the others in my stack...

 

[Jefferson]

Thanks AI,

I had a student asking about it, and since I am not able to get into Pinker's material just yet, I thought I would ask here first

:)

 

[SethianSeth]

This book is certainly useful, despite the staunch materialist POV. I actually wish I would have read it after learning more about psychopathy because I think I would have made better use of the info had I those connections readily available. Maybe a re-read IS in order...

Thanks for bringing this one up, Megan!

 

[mcb]

This was a very interesting book and informative book. I read it as an audiobook, which makes it hard to go back and review sections, let alone quote from it, and I decided not to try to review it for that reason. It shines light on all sorts of things that could use a little illuminations. I might just listen to it again. (I'm having too much eye trouble to want to read it in print.)

Pinker seems to be a bit of a controversial figure. His name has popped up in various places since I read the book.

I came to question the "blank slate" long ago. I have seen too much evidence to the contrary. What was new to me is just how many people DO subscribe to the notion.

I remember being taught by my parents that "people have no instincts" (with a few exceptions) when I was growing up in the 50's. Pinker writes about how that idea developed, and I found that interesting.