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Steven Pinker's: 'The Blank Slate'

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  • 26-12-2002 3:17am
    #1
    Amon
    Closed Accounts Posts: 13 ✭


    Just started to read this highly controversial but so far outstanding book. Wondering if anyone else here has read it and what did they think?
    In case your not sure what it's about or just haven't heard anything about it, it's a book which basically disects the behaviourist's and popular sociologist theory of "The Blank Slate" which basically states that all people are born a "blank slate" onto which the mannerisms, characteristics e.t.c of their persona are written by experiences, lifestyle in childhood, environment, parentage e.t.c. Pinker is a Geneticist so people immediately considered it to be a Nazi spin-off when in fact it is far from that and the people who wont read it (or cant understand it so dont bother) because of that prejudice (i.e dope-smokers/ communists/ socialists/ unemployed wasters) are the biggest fascists of them all and deserve a good smiting for their ignorance.
    Anyway, sorry about that rather impromptu rant; basically I'd highly recommend it and anyone who has read it please feel free to give your opinions/comments. I've only just started it so can't argue too much on it's premise just yet.


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    #2
    DadaKopf
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,731 ✭✭✭DadaKopf


    Pinker is a Geneticist so people immediately considered it to be a Nazi spin-off when in fact it is far from that and the people who wont read it (or cant understand it so dont bother) because of that prejudice
    Don't you actually mean Eugenics? In which case, it's entirely justifiable that "dope-smokers/ communists/ socialists/ unemployed wasters" (who you seem to have a problem with) would be suspicious of it. Eugenics politically motivated genetic breeding.

    Genetics, on the other hand, is just a branch of science that attempts to crack the code of heredity. That's fine.

    Now, back to Politics.


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