Steve Pinker’s The Blank Slate evaluates what many consider to be common knowledge of human nature and proves it wrong. Two arguments of the framework of reality and the influence of behavioral genetics yield the most convincing argument that I found changed how I view myself and how my world view was developed. Pinker initially discusses the construction of reality in the context of how the post-modern movement has evaluated the world. The common misconceptions associated with reality, he argues, are one that there are limitations to our language, and two that the “real” world is just a series of images. His main argument is that the line of thinking that many people accept as legitimate is simply invalid which yields larger implications …show more content…
Behavioral genetics as he describes is the study of how genes affect behavior thus the definition alone claims that there is some innate feature that impacts how we act thus disproving tabla rasa. Pinker continues by describing the limited impact the environment has on behavior. The main example of the influence of genetics is that of identical twins. The data suggests that identical twins even when reared apart behave incredibly similar even more so than fraternal twins raised together. Another component of behavioral genetics is the heritability of things such ones’ temperament and ability to feel empathy, so once again it is not the environment that makes an individual a nice person necessarily. Each of these factors culminate in the three laws of behavioral genetics which detail the heritability of traits, the impact of genes versus families and the final 50% is a unique environment. The argument concludes in quite a controversial description that any study stating a correlation between family life and success is useless and that as long as there no extreme circumstances the family environment has no
Benedict indicates that parenting has a significant effect on how we turn out when she says, “Most people are shaped to the form of their culture because of their enormous malleability” (115). Benedict explicitly states that people are extremely, although not infinitely, malleable. From her claim, it follows that parents have great influence in shaping their kids. Pinker, on the other hand, cites identical twin studies to demonstrate the impact of genes and its relationship to our growth. His example was a pair of twins raised in two extremes of culture: “one of whom was brought up as a Catholic in a Nazi family and the other brought up in a Jewish family in Trinidad”(TED). There were remarkable similarities in their wardrobe, eating habits, and demeanor. For example, both “liked dipping buttered toast in coffee” and were considered jokesters because they enjoyed sneezing in elevators to startle people. This study suggests that humans may not be as malleable as Benedict
There are some human phenomena, which seem to be the result of individual actions and personal decisions. Yet, these phenomena are often - on closer inspection – as much a result of social factors as of psychological ones.
Steven Pinker lays the foundation for his book by highlighting three main philosophies that permeate society’s view of humanity and their historical context: The Blank Slate (empiricism), the Noble Savage (romanticism), and the Ghost in the Machine (dualism) (2002, p. 11). Pinker is correct to challenge previous philosophical frameworks as they skew the way scientific research has been conducted. Present-day scientific and social research will only benefit from an acknowledgement of innate human nature.
Waiten,W., (2007) Seventh Edition Psychology Themes and Variations. University of Nevada, Las Vegas: Thomson Wadsworth.
Every individual has a biological influence on their development; two individuals combine their genetic information to create a new organism, carrying biological predispositions that will shape their expressed behaviors and characteristics. However, Susan Griffin, author of the essay “Our Secret,” argues that while genetic influences are significant, they are not the sole contributors to an individual’s development. Throughout her essay, Griffin reveals to her readers that the presence of external, uncontrollable factors from an individual’s environment can be equally influential as they diverge the individual off of the predetermined path of life created by biological factors.
defends the argument that humans are not solely defined by their nature or nurture, but by both. The
In past years, when an artist or philosopher critiqued the reality of the world, it was always presumed that there was a reality to be criticized. However, post-modernity has presented those people with a horrifying new challenge -- a world that has literally been so overcome by its technology that the important issues of man's existence no longer consist of finding answers to questions like "Why are we born to suffer and die?" but merely trying to distinguish between the real and the unreal, which to post-modern man is not esoteric philosophical speculation, but a practical day to day issue. The post-modern trajectory is one that leaves humans fighting not to maintain political supremacy or to break the shackles of injustice, but simply to maintain their identities as real beings in the face of technology's blurring of the lines between man and mechanics, humanity and machinery, reality and image. This struggle seems to be a losing battle for mankind, as each day the inventions that were meant to bring us pleasure and increase our leisure time, instead dehumanize us by taking a piece of our selfhood for their own with every passing moment. The post-modern social theorist Jean Baudrillard posits that the world of today is a never-ending "virtual apocalypse" of reality yielding to the hyperreal--reality defined not as what, in fact is. but rather that which can be simulated, reproduced, or Xeroxed. Desperate times call for desperate measures, and never has this been more true than in the world of the post-modern, where the only viable strategy left is to take technology's weapons and turn them to our advantage, in one final attempt to preserve our humanity by somehow finding meaning in the hallucinatory, cybernetic, hyperreal spectacle that is the post-modern condition.
In “Revenge of the Nerds,” Steven Pinker investigates on how our mind has evolved throughout the history of natural selection. Pinker claims that the standardized evolutionary timeline for human is in fact flawed and unreliable due to its limited scope and consistencies vary based on different perspective. He suggests that the evolutionary timeline actually started much earlier and end later than what has already been established in the standardized timeline.
Behavior can be defined as an individual’s response to an action. The provoked feeling that propels someone to move or strike is a general example of behavior. Behavior is influenced by many different factors and comes forth in different forms. Some examples of these factors include one’s genetic makeup, environment, individual thoughts, and feelings. What makes one person’s behavior uniquely different from another comes from the diversity of the world, in terms of different habits, cultures and sex. This diversity is what sets individual behavior apart from one another. However, does this mean that people are wired to function according to the expectancy of society? In order to answer this question, it is essential to understand how the effects
Many people in the world believe that everyone is either born good or evil. There have been many discussions about this topic that still go on today. Along with the beliefs people are born good or bad are also the belief that people are born with a blank slate, meaning that their environment plays a role in how they turn out. If people are born good, then they are born with a natural affinity towards kindness. If people are born to be bad, then they will possibly be selfish and greedy. If people are born with a blank slate, then choices overtime and environment will decide what they turn out to be like. These three perspectives on human nature have been in discussion for many years, with no real conclusion.
Many theories and perspectives exist concerning human behavior. One of these theories is the Psychodynamic Approach which deals with our internal state of mind in terms of human behavior development. One of the perspectives is The Social Behavioral Perspective which speaks of the environmental influence on human behavior development. Some of these theories and perspectives affect the underlying belief of the previous theory or shape the foundation of the next theory. While both have their positive aspects and can be useful when assisting clients, they have some flaws that cannot be overlooked.
Undoubtedly, humans are unique and intricate creatures and their development is a complex process. It is this process that leads people to question, is a child’s development influenced by genetics or their environment? This long debate has been at the forefront of psychology for countless decades now and is better known as “Nature versus Nurture”. The continuous controversy over whether or not children develop their psychological attributes based on genetics (nature) or the way in which they have been raised (nurture) has occupied the minds of psychologists for years. Through thorough reading of experiments, studies, and discussions however, it is easy to be convinced that nurture does play a far more important in the development of a human than nature.
Thesis & Purpose: If people can be more aware of others inborn flaws, then maybe evaluating and rationalizing a tough situation won’t be so tough.
Someone can physically look like their parents, siblings or even ancestors from the third generation. When a baby is born, it is common to learn in a natural way. No one teaches a baby how to crawl or how to react when he and she is hungry. However, talents, qualities and personalities are developed through experiences. The environment in which people grew up can have a lasting effect or influence on the way they talk, behave and respond to things around. According to Steven Pinker, Behavioral genetics has shown that temperament emerges early in life and remains fairly constant throughout the life span, that much of the variation among people within a culture comes from differences in genes, and that in some cases particular genes can be tied to aspects of cognition, language, and personality (2). Researchers believe that the origin of behaviors occur in genes in the DNA or even animal instincts which this concept is known as nature of human behavior. Other researchers believe that people are they were they are because they are taught to do so. This concept is well known as nurture in human behavior. In society, there will always be the doubt between Do we born in this way or do we behave according to life experiences? I strongly believe that nurture plays an important role in the upbringing of a child and the decisions that one makes in the future. Firstly, humans learn from their environment and other’s behaviors. Secondly, culture is a huge remark in people’s life. Finally,
Human development has always puzzled me in that I just don’t understand why everybody is completely different. No two people are alike in their ways of thinking, acting, or even dealing with everyday stress. I still don’t understand all of human development but after reading this book I do understand a great deal more about it. I did not realize that the development of a person’s personality starts from the earliest moments of life. It starts to develop when his or her mother or father holds them for the first time and it and it doesn’t stop developing and can always change. As I have grown up, I have realized that many of my actions are just mimics of what my parents did during my childhood. Just every day simple things such as chewing the inside portion of my lip while watching television, which is what my father has always done. The book explained to me that I saw these things being done by my parents and paired them in my mind as what an adult does, therefore I do them now because it is ...