The Blank Slate
Ashley Dargin-Article # 1
Pinker, S. (2002). The blank slate. Discover Magazine, 34-40.
The Blank Slate
This study was about our concepts of human nature affects every aspect of our lives, from the way we raise our children to the political movements we embrace. Pinker in the article states, “On one side is a militant denial of human nature, a conviction that the mind of a child is a blank slate that is subsequently inscribed by parents and society.” Then he goes to explain, the modern sciences of mind, brain, genes, and evolution are showing that there is something to the commonsense idea of human nature. I do agree on parenting has a big part in how you raise your children. Pinker believed the fact that parents provide their children with genes, not just an environment. He did a study on children born to natural parents showed a better child well as, the adopted child only gets environment from their parents with no genes. He stated,” That genes make all the difference, that parenting makes all the difference, or anything in between.” There is a phrase in article “Blank Slate” is a loose translation of the Latin term tabula rasa. This term meaning that individuals are born without built in mental content and that their knowledge comes from experience and perception. According to Pinker point, any differences we see among races, ethnic groups, sexes, and individuals come not from differences in their innate constitution but from differences in their experiences. The experience by reforming parenting, education, the media, and social rewards and you can change the person. He also states, if there is no such thing as human nature, society will be saddled with such nasty traits as aggression, selfishness, and prejudice. Franz Boas wrote that differences among human races and ethnic groups come not from their physical constitution but from their culture. They insisted not just that differences among ethnic groups must be explained in terms of
Pinker, S. (2002). The blank slate. Discover Magazine, 34-40.
The Blank Slate
This study was about our concepts of human nature affects every aspect of our lives, from the way we raise our children to the political movements we embrace. Pinker in the article states, “On one side is a militant denial of human nature, a conviction that the mind of a child is a blank slate that is subsequently inscribed by parents and society.” Then he goes to explain, the modern sciences of mind, brain, genes, and evolution are showing that there is something to the commonsense idea of human nature. I do agree on parenting has a big part in how you raise your children. Pinker believed the fact that parents provide their children with genes, not just an environment. He did a study on children born to natural parents showed a better child well as, the adopted child only gets environment from their parents with no genes. He stated,” That genes make all the difference, that parenting makes all the difference, or anything in between.” There is a phrase in article “Blank Slate” is a loose translation of the Latin term tabula rasa. This term meaning that individuals are born without built in mental content and that their knowledge comes from experience and perception. According to Pinker point, any differences we see among races, ethnic groups, sexes, and individuals come not from differences in their innate constitution but from differences in their experiences. The experience by reforming parenting, education, the media, and social rewards and you can change the person. He also states, if there is no such thing as human nature, society will be saddled with such nasty traits as aggression, selfishness, and prejudice. Franz Boas wrote that differences among human races and ethnic groups come not from their physical constitution but from their culture. They insisted not just that differences among ethnic groups must be explained in terms of