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The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature | 
 enlarge | Author: Steven Pinker
Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics)
Category: Book
List Price: $16.00
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Avg. Customer Rating:  202 reviews
Sales Rank: 6448
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 528
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 9.2 x 6 x 1.2
ISBN: 0142003344
Dewey Decimal Number: 155.234
EAN: 9780142003343
ASIN: 0142003344
Publication Date: August 26, 2003
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Condition: Paperback in very good condition. No highlighting or notes. Satisfaction guaranteed.
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Product Description
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.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 197 more reviews...
 How we work...and why January 1, 2009
Steven Pinker's THE BLANK SLATE: THE MODERN DENIAL OF HUMAN NATURE takes on the deeply held and energetically protected notions of the individual's mind as a blank slate, as a human as a "noble savage" and the concept that our biologically mechanisms are run by a "ghost in the machine." Pinker hammers inexorably away at these concepts with evidence from various sciences and with a logical drumbeat that, at the very least, moves the reader to agree that a case for an innate human nature has been made.
Pinker is a cognitive psychologist who is clearly an advocate of evolutionary psychology (how fascinating is THAT?!) and outlines a computational theory of mind throughout this book as a foundation of his argument against a blank slate. Currently at Harvard, Pinker is a lucid rhetorician, who is also a pleasure to read (he inserts pop culture example such as The Onion into complex elucidations of his subjects) and is quite fascinating to read.
Pinker takes on the idea of the blank slate, that humans come into this world without any preprogramming, preferences or inherent personality or temperament but rather are products of "culture" - an omnipresent superorganism that feeds these things to individuals. He also addresses the fallacy of the "Noble Savage," which is the idea that left to a natural state, humans are peaceful, nonviolent creatures. And by taking both these on, he also undercuts the notion that our biologies are machines "run" by a spirit or "ghost."
I find it difficult to summarize here all that Pinker covered, and I think that would not be useful either. I can illustrate to you how he makes the argument over the course of the book. In Part I, "The Blank Slate, the Noble Savage and the Ghost in the Machine," Pinker takes on these theories and lays out the necessary underpinnings which must be assumed to support them (such as culture and its role in shaping blank slates). In Part II, "Fear and Loathing," he discusses the defense of these concepts and the emotion often involved in shoring up arguments for them. In Part III, "Human Nature with a Human Face," Pinker outlines the fears people have of this computational theory of mind and evolutionary biological and psychological components to our nature and refutes them. Part IV, "Know Thyself," discusses more overtly how human nature impacts our "public and private lives" (p. 195). Part V, "Hot Buttons," is downright fun to read as Pinker addresses how human nature plays a role in various (not all) areas in which individual flare and flame, politics, violence, gender, children and the arts. (This final section is where Pinker gets to take on postmodern aesthetics and prinicipals!)
Pinker presents such a wealth of information and calls on so many fields to make his case, that the book is an amazing education, whether or not you agree with his thesis. Often I felt the desire to read whole books on items he referred to in a single sentence. This book challenges its reader to assess his or her own assumptions about what makes us individuals, how we function, and to what we attribute our abilities and talents - and how those assumptions could be proven or supported with evidence. These are not easy or pleasant challenges with which to be confronted, but they are valuable and Pinker's book, I think, could be a catalyst for many to thoughtfully sort through and to understand what they fight to believe. For example, the discussions of how individuals' selves take shape beg significant consideration of those who believe in an essential human self or soul.
Pinker's work goes well with other authors such as Sapolsky (Monkeyluv), Diamond (Guns, Germs and Steel and Collapse), Fukuyama (The End of History and the Last Man) and Friedman (The World is Flat). His ideas enrich what those authors have to say and vice versa.
Pinker appeals to his reader in the end, in a final chapter titled "The Voice of Species" in which he references authors and their eloquent and insightful depictions of the very human nature he sought to prove scientifically throughout the book, with a summary of what many people likely sense or suspect. "I suspect that few people really believe, deep down, that boys and girls are interchangeable, that all differences in intelligence come from the environment, that parents can micromanage the personalities of their children, that humans are born free of selfish tendencies..." (p. 422). And much of what he writes is indeed intuitive. He makes the scientific and evidentiary case for human nature, while stating that many aspects of why we are the way we are as individuals is still not known. This book gives the reader excitement about the journey to learn about what is left!
reviewed by lex crane December 21, 2008
This is a brilliant book on the nature of human nature, soundly based on the conviction that we have been acting on a grave misconception about human nature in formulating public policy. The book was written by a remarkably bright, learned, and knowledgeable neuro-scientist who works at Harvard and MIT. The author argues that for centuries we have been assuming that human beings acquired no instincts from their animal forebears, because human nature is formed only by learning, not by our evolutionary heritage, and that this assumption is delusory. The fact is, he convincingly contends, we inherited a number of instincts from our primate predecessors, including the territorial instinct. Each animal grouping claims a territory instinctibly, and defends it with their lives. Every human nation claims a territory, and is fully prepared to defend it with their lives.
Each animal grouping is led by a dominant alpha male. The same is true of human groupings. Most corporations, military forces, and nations are headed by alpha males or alpha females. Mostly males so far. The alphas are those driven by a need to gain top leaership positions. Some of these leaders care not only about gaining leadership, but also care about the well-being of the people they lead. Many, however, care only about gaining power and control, and they often wreak havoc in the nations they lead.
We must find a way to profit from the creative drive evident in alphas, and at the same time, of checking their potential for destruction.
Excellent October 16, 2008
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial Of Human Nature (2002)- follows in the trail of the prior books, which established SP as 1 of the top dogs in neural science. In this review I want to focus a little bit on how well SP writes, as well as discussing his ideas. The former I want to put out there for this reason- rarely is the writing style of a science book ever approached; save for famously nebulous koans as lucid, thrilling, or enthralling. What exactly do terms like that mean, in general, & specifically related to the work at hand? That is a rhetorical question, folks.
I want to approach both of these aspects of his writing in a fairly straightforward way. After I've chronologically highlighted some of the pros & cons of the book (artistically & scientifically), then I will go back & essay some of the ideas propounded in a bit more detail & depth.
The book's major premise is laid out in the opening chapters of the book- basically it's this: The triumvirate of ideologies upon which most of current human social engineering is based is wrong. That trio is the idea of The Noble Savage (NS)- that pre-societal hunter-gatherers lived a purer life, not prone to the excesses & evils of Modernity; The Ghost In The Machine (GIM)- a variant on the Cartesian Theater idea of the mind- i.e.- that there is some indissoluble `essence' unique to animata, that is absent in inanimata. In other words, life is fundamentally different from non-life; whereas modern science reduces the differences to mere thresholds, or standards, that are arbitrary. Is a virus alive or not? Can a molecule or atom or quark be said to possess `liveness', &/or at what stage of complexity is that threshold breached? The 3rd, & to SP the most noxious of the trio (hence its titular status), The Blank Slate (BS) is the idea that human intellect & nature is infinitely malleable- i.e.- B.F. Skinner's hardest -on! The BS comes from the Latin tabula rasa & SP identifies its rise with the works of 17th Century philosopher John Locke. SP attributes the contemporary wont to see all individuals as `equal' stemming from this philosophy. All measurable differences are attributed to experience alone- i.e.- `nurture'. As I go on I'll refer back to these ideas as SP elaborates, but his general thrust is a good 1. It's ridiculous to think that the only reason I cannot play baseball as well as Major Leaguers like Barry Bonds or Alex Rodriguez is because of my experiences. Flat-out, they are great athletes. I am not. Even were I to make their dedications to their craft pale, I still could not come near to them because I am not a great natural athlete. Similarly, in the opposite direction, I am a great poet. I have alot of natural ability with words & ideas, & no doubt my dedication to this craft has led me to my current status- but I've come across 1000s of would-be `poets' who waste their lives trying to be poets, who just do not have `the gift', for lack of a better term. This is so manifest that it seems ludicrous that the idea ever got started in the 1st place. Oddly enough, though, this idea of the BS is used only selectively. Any suggestions that alcoholics are weak or fat people lazy or homosexuals perverse (perfectly reasonable hypotheses, according to the BS doctrine) are dismissed as bigotry. In effect, the BSers want their proverbial cake, & the ability to chow down, as well. SP brinks no such tendencies.
Nature vs. Nurture October 7, 2008
A must read! Throughout this book, Pinker shows a thorough knowledge of a wide variety of fields, covering from neuroscience to politics to philosophy and much more. This book argues against the premise that the human brain begins as an empty tablet awaiting the experiences of life to teach it how to think and act. It's the "nature versus nurture" question revisited- but this time both sides win. You have to read the book to see what I mean.
This Will Change You (Nature v. Nurture) September 13, 2008
If you are interested in considering that many people get ahead in life due to genetics moreso than previously thought then this book is for you. Culture, Environment, and Experience are weighed heavily in our reality, but "Slate" should open your perspective for sure. This book is the best of its kind.
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