Book Review - The Blank Slate - Steven Pinker - Nature or nurture?

The debate on nature or nurture has been going on for many years. Every decade or so the popularity of one idea or the other gains favour then is replaced by a new idea from the other camp.

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This book by Steven Pinker favours the idea that we are hard-wired genetically for such traits as sex, jealousy and aggression. Our human natures are programmed from birth. At the same time, compassion, love and reason are also part of our makeup. We have the ability to acknowledge what we are and to understand the foundations of our humanity.

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In his opinion, our environment plays a limited role in shaping who we become. With this knowledge we can shape our own futures and resolve our differences. Callousness, inequality need not be part of our paradigm.

Whether you are an apologist for one or the other model, this book is still worth reading.