Misplaced Pages

Revision as of 04:17, 28 July 2011

The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature is a best-selling 2002 book by Steven Pinker arguing against tabula rasa models of the social sciences. Pinker argues that human behavior is substantially shaped by evolutionary psychological adaptations. The book was nominated for the 2003 Aventis Prizes and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.

Synopsis

Pinker argues that modern science has challenged three "linked dogmas" that constitute the dominant view of human nature in intellectual life:

• the blank slate (the mind has no innate traits) — empiricism
• the noble savage (people are born good and corrupted by society) — romanticism
• the ghost in the machine (each of us has a soul that makes choices free from biology) — mind/body dualism

Much of the book is dedicated to examining fears of the social and political consequences of his view of human nature:

• "the fear of inequality"
• "the fear of imperfectability"
• "the fear of determinism"
• "the fear of nihilism"

Pinker claims these fears are non sequiturs, and that the blank slate view of human nature would actually be a greater threat if it were true. For example, he argues that political equality does not require sameness, but policies that treat people as individuals with rights; that moral progress doesn't require the human mind to be naturally free of selfish motives, only that it has other motives to counteract them; that responsibility doesn't require behavior to be uncaused, only that it respond to praise and blame; and that meaning in life doesn't require that the process that shaped the brain must have a purpose, only that the brain itself must have purposes. He also argues that grounding moral values in claims about a blank slate opens them to the possibility of being overturned by future empirical discoveries. He further argues that a blank slate is in fact inconsistent with opposition to many social evils since a blank slate could be conditioned to enjoy servitude and degradation.

Evolutionary and genetic inequality arguments do not necessarily support right-wing policies. Pinker writes that if everyone was equal regarding abilities it can be argued that it is only necessary to give everyone equal opportunity. On the other hand, if some people have less innate ability through no fault of their own, then this can be taken as support for redistribution policies to those with less innate ability. Further, laissez-faire economics is built upon an assumption of a rational actor, while evolutionary psychology suggests that people have many different goals and behaviors that do not fit the rational actor theory. Raising living standards, also for the poor, is often used as an argument that inequality need no be reduced, while evolutionary psychology may suggest that low status itself, apart from material considerations, is highly psychologically stressful and may cause dangerous and desperate behaviors, supporting a society reducing inequalities. Finally, evolutionary explanations may also help the left create policies with greater public support, suggesting that people's sense of fairness (caused by mechanisms such as reciprocal altruism) rather than greed is a primary cause of opposition to welfare, if there is not a distinction in the proposals between what is perceived as the deserving and the undeserving poor.

Pinker also gives several example of harm done by the belief in a blank slate of human nature:

• totalitarian social engineering.
• Inappropriate or excessive blame on and guilt for parents since if their children do not turn out well this is assumed to be entirely environmentally caused and in particular due to the behavior of the parents.
• release of dangerous psychopaths who quickly commit new crimes
• construction of massive and dreary tenement complexes since housing and environmental preferences are assumed to be culturally caused and superficial.
• persecution and even mass murder of the successful who are assumed to have gained this unfairly. This includes not only individuals but entire successful groups who are assumed to have become successful unfairly and by exploitation of other groups. Examples include kulaks in the Soviet Union; teachers and "rich" peasants in the Cultural Revolution; and city dwellers and intellectuals under the Red Khmers.

Reception

This sample of book reviews— with many taken from Stephen Pinker's own website —'s sources may have been cherry picked. Please help improve the article.

Psychologist David Buss stated that "This may be the most important book so far published in the 21st century.".

Psychologist David P. Barash wrote that "Pinker’s thinking and writing are first-rate … maybe even better than that."

Evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins stated that "The Blank Slate is ... a stylish piece of work. I won't say it is better than The Language Instinct or How the Mind Works, but it is as good—which is very high praise indeed.".

Philosopher Daniel Dennett wrote that " wades resolutely into the comforting gloom surrounding these not quite forbidden topics and calmly, lucidly marshals the facts to ground his strikingly subversive Darwinian claims—subversive not of any of the things we properly hold dear but subversive of the phony protective layers of misinformation surrounding them."

Popular science writer Steven Johnson praised the book in a review in The Nation, arguing that Pinker's Darwinian theory of the mind is not intrinsically conservative. Skeptic Magazine has a more critical review of the book. The biologist H. Allen Orr's argues that Pinker's work often lacks scientific rigor, and suggests that it is "soft science".

See also

References

1. Steven Pinker. "Steven Pinker - Books - The Blank Slate". Pinker.wjh.harvard.edu. Retrieved 2011-01-19.
2. ^ Steven Pinker. "Steven Pinker - Books - The Blank Slate - Review Excerpts". Pinker.wjh.harvard.edu. Retrieved 2011-01-19.
3. Schlinger, Henry D. (2004). "The Almost Blank Slate". Skeptic Magazine. 11 (2). {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
4. Orr, H. Allen (2003-02-27). "Darwinian Storytelling". New York Review Of Books. 50 (3).

External links

• Pinker's website on The Blank Slate
• Steven Pinker (2002) MIT video lecture for book tour
• Meet the Flintstones by Simon Blackburn, a critical review of The Blank Slate
• Steven Johnson (2002) "Sociobiology and You", a positive review in the October 31 issue of The Nation.
• 'The Science and Politics of the Human Mind', review in the Oxonian Review
• The Great Debate Articles - Newcastle University debate on The Blank Slate and other topics.
• The Blank slate - Article by Pinker in General Psychologist, Vol. 41, No.1, Spring 2006

• 2002 books
• Evolutionary psychology
• Psychology books
• Cognitive science literature
• Works by Steven Pinker