false <![CDATA[The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165543215m/5752.jpg 5752 14 In <I>The Blank Slate</I>, Steven Pinker, one of the world's leading experts on language and the mind, explores the idea of human nature and its moral, emotional, and political colorings. With characteristic wit, lucidity, and insight, Pinker argues that the dogma that the mind has no innate traits-a doctrine held by many intellectuals during the past century-denies our common humanity and our individual preferences, replaces objective analyses of social problems with feel-good slogans, and distorts our understanding of politics, violence, parenting, and the arts. Injecting calm and rationality into debates that are notorious for ax-grinding and mud-slinging, Pinker shows the importance of an honest acknowledgment of human nature based on science and common sense. 9151 2002 The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature total:889|5:321|4:334|3:183|2:37|1:14| 889 3578 1728 126 5 6 false false Tue Jun 03 11:11:20 -0700 2008 Thu Jun 05 10:04:41 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 6 false false Sat Sep 27 16:43:18 -0700 2008 Thu Nov 20 15:53:50 -0800 2008 ...more...]]> 5 3 false false Tue Nov 13 19:02:19 -0800 2007 Tue Nov 13 19:21:58 -0800 2007 more...]]> 4 6 false false Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2005 Tue Feb 03 13:29:04 -0800 2009 Wed Sep 09 06:07:45 -0700 2009
He has some wonderful stories to bac...more...]]> 3 3 false false Sat Aug 09 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon Jul 21 16:36:56 -0700 2008 Sat Aug 09 11:49:41 -0700 2008 more...]]> 2 3 true false Tue Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon Jul 14 06:56:07 -0700 2008 Sun Aug 03 14:27:53 -0700 2008 http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2002/11...
I found this book simultaneously interesting and exasperating, because the author is obviously a highly educated, well-read man who thinks he knows everything about every subje...more...]]> 2 2 false false Thu Jun 26 17:45:00 -0700 2008 Fri Jun 27 13:53:04 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 1 false false Sun May 25 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sun Mar 09 13:40:38 -0700 2008 Mon May 26 21:18:20 -0700 2008 The Blank Slate, for me, is one of those rare books. My understanding of human nature, gender, politics, violence, learning, and, most significantly, my view on child-raising will all be affected by this book f...more...]]> 5 0 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Thu Dec 04 11:52:07 -0800 2008 Thu Dec 04 12:09:22 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false true Tue Aug 04 06:17:17 -0700 2009 Mon Jul 20 12:53:02 -0700 2009 Tue Aug 04 06:17:17 -0700 2009
This book is about more than Nature vs. Nurture. Pinker goes into the whole issue of how society views and reacts to the idea of genetic influence. He does it calmly and honestly. And he's funny.


Quotes:

"Social scientists saw the mal...more...]]> 5 0 false false Sat Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Fri Sep 11 11:26:07 -0700 2009 Fri Sep 11 11:34:09 -0700 2009
Great book, pr...more...]]> 5 0 false false Mon Mar 09 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Mar 09 02:28:27 -0700 2009 Mon Mar 09 02:28:37 -0700 2009
This book covers a lot of ground: philosophy, genetics, cognition, sociology and academic infighting. Steven Pinker, writing with persuasiveness and craft, shows why the doctrine of the “Blank Slate” became so importa...more...]]> 1 0 false false Sat Sep 26 16:23:35 -0700 2009 Sat Sep 26 16:23:35 -0700 2009 more...]]> 1 1 false false Sun Apr 26 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Apr 23 13:03:41 -0700 2009 Sun Apr 26 12:15:42 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed Nov 11 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Thu Nov 12 14:52:00 -0800 2009 Thu Nov 12 15:04:50 -0800 2009 The Blank Slate by Steven Pinker is supposed to be an antidote to folk who believe that human nature doesn't exist and that people are basically blank slates. He provides scientific research to support his claim that human nature, "an endowment of cognitive and emotional faculties that is unive...more...]]> 4 1 false false Mon Dec 29 13:31:50 -0800 2008 Mon Dec 29 13:34:10 -0800 2008 4 0 false false Wed Mar 04 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Wed Feb 18 11:12:11 -0800 2009 Thu Apr 09 08:13:21 -0700 2009
The idea that humans are a blank slate, infinitely ...more...]]> 5 0 false false Fri Sep 12 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Fri Sep 12 13:49:47 -0700 2008 Fri Sep 12 13:58:28 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Thu Aug 14 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Jul 15 13:02:28 -0700 2008 Thu Aug 14 14:49:55 -0700 2008
The Blank Slate is the...more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Jul 05 23:39:03 -0700 2008 Sun Jul 06 00:27:47 -0700 2008 more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=5752