Goodreads: The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature by Steven Pinker (checkpoint 1)

Audiobook: 50mins \ 22hrs 42mins.

I just finished the preface and chapter 1. Pinker discussed some of the social, moral, political, and intellectual positions and conflicts between the two extremes of Nature versus Nurture (blank slate). Human Nature states that we are innately built a certain way in terms of behavior, namely through genes or as some would additionally attribute to the soul or spirit. Human Nature states that we are born with no slant towards anything, we are blank slates, and as such, all behavior is learned through the environment as experience. Most would blend the two together to form their ideas on human behavior.


Many are reluctant to consider the Human Nature aspect of our behavior, since it seems to imply that we are, at least in certain respects, a result of mechanical and machine-like processes. This implies a restriction of free-will and leads some to believe that if we don't have free will, then we can't be held responsible.

He discussed some notable contributors to the philosophy of how people have thought about these things throughout history. These include John Locke, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and René Descartes. There are three main aspects to this arena that will be discussed: the blank slate (experience), the noble savage (inherently good, untainted by society), and the ghost in the machine (dualism).