tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post7669072145700582740..comments2023-09-27T07:44:19.769-04:00Comments on Sabine Hossenfelder: Backreaction: Book review: “The Blank Slate” by Steven PinkerSabine Hossenfelderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comBlogger21125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-9386678359392337272013-08-04T07:55:57.428-04:002013-08-04T07:55:57.428-04:00Giotis,
You've got it backwards. Human nature...Giotis,<br /><br />You've got it backwards. Human nature does not 'push' people into 'societies', but societies are a product of human nature. There are different ways to organize society, but if you try to impose some order on people, some are doomed to fail because they clash with human nature. That's one of the points discussed in the book, yes, though maybe not the Sabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-41090419032854695802013-08-02T01:14:53.778-04:002013-08-02T01:14:53.778-04:00My favorite Pinker books are The Language Instinct...My favorite Pinker books are <i>The Language Instinct</i> and <i>How the Mind Works</i>. the latter may have a lot of overlap with <i>the Blank Slate</i>. CapitalistImperialistPighttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17523405806602731435noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-38641018146383226212013-08-01T17:07:12.206-04:002013-08-01T17:07:12.206-04:00"I’ve been asked at least half a dozen of tim...<i>"I’ve been asked at least half a dozen of times if I read “The Blank Slate” and now I know why."</i><br /><br />Glad I suggested it. :-)<br /><br />His <i>How the Mind Works</i> is similar in tone, but broader. <i>The Language Instinct</i> is a classic, but more technical. Interesting if one is interested in languages. Är dit svenska bra nu?<br /><br />On my shelf of books to Phillip Helbighttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12067585245603436809noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-65748623539697466732013-08-01T15:25:11.822-04:002013-08-01T15:25:11.822-04:00Fred began in deep poverty, was a Marine, then a p...<a href="http://www.fredoneverything.net/" rel="nofollow">Fred</a> began in deep poverty, was a Marine, then a police reporter. His observations are empirically true. <i>The Bell Curve</i> rings true. The Manhattan Project was not "equal opportunity." Peenemünde and Apollo required von Braun. Contemporary NASA is “no manager left behind.”<br /><br />The vast middle is eviscerated Uncle Alhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05056804084187606211noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-40647829174923468692013-08-01T08:03:35.310-04:002013-08-01T08:03:35.310-04:00Ok, so this guy is telling us that you should not ...Ok, so this guy is telling us that you should not ignore genetics and human nature when you are trying to fit an individual into society but on the other hand is telling us that human nature pushes the individual to fit into society; moreover he is happy about it.<br /><br />So what's the point? Giotishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03594944884584261018noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-11816497725160972982013-08-01T06:40:04.157-04:002013-08-01T06:40:04.157-04:00Yes, probably. But try raising an infant in a cann...Yes, probably. But try raising an infant in a cannibalistic society and expect it to not become a happy cannibal. You'll most likely fail. We're social creatures, we want to fit in. Sabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-80954933858136755672013-08-01T06:36:11.395-04:002013-08-01T06:36:11.395-04:00But if I get an infant and raise it in a cannibali...But if I get an infant and raise it in a cannibalistic society, it will become a happy cannibal...Giotishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03594944884584261018noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-24002237576895269142013-08-01T06:35:13.323-04:002013-08-01T06:35:13.323-04:00Arun,
I plainly don't understand this review....Arun,<br /><br />I plainly don't understand this review. It's like the person didn't read the book. It's not my field of research, so it's hard for me to tell in how far the selection of research that Pinker discusses is slanted. Even more difficult since the book is a decade old now. But Pinker does discuss on several occasions evidence to the contrary and how that might be Sabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-51309479795852538012013-08-01T06:28:54.383-04:002013-08-01T06:28:54.383-04:00Tom,
Thanks for the recommendation, I'll put ...Tom,<br /><br />Thanks for the recommendation, I'll put it on the list. It will take a while though until I get there. Also, I've been reading a whole bunch of brain-stuff lately and feel like I should put in something different. Best,<br /><br />B.Sabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-78781637946442266612013-08-01T06:27:43.096-04:002013-08-01T06:27:43.096-04:00Alyssa,
I'll be watching out for your review ...Alyssa,<br /><br />I'll be watching out for your review :o) Sabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-41564563993676978152013-08-01T06:27:23.176-04:002013-08-01T06:27:23.176-04:00Giotis,
"People can be trained to do anythin...Giotis,<br /><br /><i>"People can be trained to do anything…"</i><br /><br />No, they can't, that's the whole point. You can't eg "train" people to be emotionless, you can just train them not to exercise certain reactions. And even in that you'll have moderate success at best. Best,<br /><br />B.Sabine Hossenfelderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06151209308084588985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-42029717587006520692013-08-01T01:53:39.331-04:002013-08-01T01:53:39.331-04:00"Plato made clear that merit and not heredity..."Plato made clear that merit and not heredity defined the gold man and that gold could be found in all parts of society." See:Plato and Justice<br /><br /><i><a href="http://www.bartleby.com/124/pres31.html" rel="nofollow">Abraham Lincoln-First Inaugural Address-Monday, March 4, 1861</a><br /><br /> I am loath to close. We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though PlatoHagelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00849253658526056393noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-70455393697198888262013-08-01T01:24:42.919-04:002013-08-01T01:24:42.919-04:00Experts in Emotion 11.3 -- Steven Pinker on Violen...<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQufyzz2vHE&feature=share&list=SPh9mgdi4rNew731mjIZn43G_Y5otqKzJA" rel="nofollow">Experts in Emotion 11.3 -- Steven Pinker on Violence and Emotion </a>PlatoHagelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00849253658526056393noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-68326758072792107422013-08-01T00:04:37.421-04:002013-08-01T00:04:37.421-04:00Hi Bee,
It appears from some of the comments her...Hi Bee,<br /><br /><br />It appears from some of the comments here there are many who don’t like to stare too long into the nature of the beast. This has me reminded of the recent interview of primatologist Frans de Waal by Howard Burton on his Ideas Road Show. Here de Waal finds innate human societal behaviour as being somewhere between that of a chimpanzee and a bonobos, our two closest Phil Warnellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15671311338712852659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-55182330441903901712013-07-31T20:51:07.367-04:002013-07-31T20:51:07.367-04:00Thomas Hylland Eriksen's review:
http://folk.u...Thomas Hylland Eriksen's review:<br /><a href="http://folk.uio.no/geirthe/Pinker.pdf" rel="nofollow">http://folk.uio.no/geirthe/Pinker.pdf</a><br /><br />"The Blank Slate initially left this reader in a state of exasperation. At the end of the day, Pinker had produced not so much a scholarly exploration as a polemical essay. His overt views are not only political in their implications, Arunhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03451666670728177970noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-39628305566485051652013-07-31T19:04:07.001-04:002013-07-31T19:04:07.001-04:00Closely related is the subject of Innatism.
By i...Closely related is the subject of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Innatism" rel="nofollow">Innatism</a>. <br /><br />By introduction of Meno, the very subject had meaning when Lee related such ideas "outside of time" as metaphysically bent. Such a thing presented in the philosophical doctrine espouse by Plato, and demonstrated by the <a href="http://www.eskesthai.com/2011/01/PlatoHagelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00849253658526056393noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-61553902846335592622013-07-31T18:38:08.951-04:002013-07-31T18:38:08.951-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.PlatoHagelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00849253658526056393noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-71086809054440012352013-07-31T18:37:37.747-04:002013-07-31T18:37:37.747-04:00See Also: Tabula rasa for further information.See Also: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blank_slate" rel="nofollow">Tabula rasa</a> for further information.PlatoHagelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00849253658526056393noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-25606264796099218422013-07-31T16:21:52.348-04:002013-07-31T16:21:52.348-04:00Steven Pinker is by far my favourite psychology au...Steven Pinker is by far my favourite psychology author. Apart from Weinberg's book, he is the only author where I agree with every argument he makes. Even if I might not agree with his final conclusion, every statement is well argued, reasonable and balanced.<br /><br />Read How The Mind Works. It's his best book. The Blank Slate is really more about explaining why the obvious is not Tom Weidighttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02084153394215001999noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-35536925450502644502013-07-31T14:23:37.637-04:002013-07-31T14:23:37.637-04:00“In a nutshell he argues that humans are not born ...“In a nutshell he argues that humans are not born “blank slates” and can’t be made to fit any utopian society or be trained any behavior.”<br /><br />Of course they can be made. People can be trained to do anything…<br /><br />“Denying human nature isn’t only futile, it makes us miserable and, needless to say, it’s unscientific.”<br /><br />Who cares if it makes people miserable or if it is Giotishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03594944884584261018noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22973357.post-57381813289911806342013-07-31T12:37:58.816-04:002013-07-31T12:37:58.816-04:00Sounds like an interesting read - thanks for revie...Sounds like an interesting read - thanks for reviewing it. I'm going to add it to my wish-list :)Alyssahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16722440908147410632noreply@blogger.com