The Blank Slate

The Modern Denial of Human Nature

By: Steven Pinker

Narrated by: Victor Bevine

Length: 22 hrs and 40 mins

Publisher's summary

In The Blank Slate, 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.

NOTE: Some changes to the original text have been made with the author's approval.

©2003 Steven Pinker (P)2009 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"[P]ersuasive and illuminating." ( Publishers Weekly)

A Deep Read

This is a very interesting and well written book on an important topic, the malleability of human nature. Similar to "The Righteous Mind," which I also enjoyed immensely. The narration was also excellent.

highly insightful

wonderful read, Pinker is almost prescient in his ability to predict the rise of the anti liberal far left in this 2004 book

Enlightening

An uncommonly well written, yet accessible, scientific explanation of human nature. a reminder of the pervasiveness and danger of refusing to learn the lessons of the denial of the existence of human nature.

Great Book

I enjoyed the scientific findings about parenting and its affects on children. I was a surpised but now understand how peers affect a persons perspective and personality in life.

The Truth about Nature and Nuture

What made the experience of listening to The Blank Slate the most enjoyable?

The author is an excellent writer and a courageous one as well. Pinker is a Harvard professor who still believes in Veritas. He explains the origin of the belief that the human mind is infinitely pliable and the overwhelming evidence against this belief. The book also makes it clear why this view of human nature continues to have a hold on so many despite the evidence against it and the fact that everyone intuitively knows it is not true.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Blank Slate?

His explanation of why modern and post-modern art has such snob appeal despite its obvious flaws was a revelation for me.

Which scene was your favorite?

His discussion of gender differences in thinking and behavior was refreshingly honest.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

It gave me hope that there are still really bright and articulate people out there who care about the truth more than political correctness.

Any additional comments?

If you don't believe in he blank slate when you are young then you have no heart; if you don't believe in the role of heredity in shaping variations of human behavior when you are older then you have no brains.

a great introduction to the debate

I want to learn more. much more about the subject. thoroughly recommended. I can't wait to listening to Pinker and his detractors again: to join the debate

A story of resistance to facts

I enjoyed this book. I was surprised how much of it was about the resistance within the academic community, as well as society at large, to the scientific exploration of human nature. I was unaware that the field of anthropology, “the study of man”, was so utterly focused on the study of human cultures as super-organisms and so uninterested and hostile to the study of the biological function of human beings, of human brains, of the wonderful and special basket of functions our brains have as a species. I got the unmistakable sense that the elite scholarly world Pinker has lived in for decades is much less about curiosity and wonder and the intelligent pursuit of Truth than it is about turf fights, power and bitchy academic politics. I was not aware of the way that personal slanders and deliberate suppression of facts to serve (often Marxist) political agendas, as well as personal egos and careers, were just normal street life in the Academy. I found it disturbing and rather disappointing; I guess I was just kind of naïve.
The limited amount of knowledge of the actual function of the brain was disappointing but not surprising. As Pinker says at one point, we do not have a “Grey’s Anatomy of the human mind” by a long shot.Plausible arguments from theories of evolutionary biology are rather second best, just not really testable or terribly convincing.
He did have some very interesting things to say about twin studies and development of psychological traits. The fact the parents count for so little was new to me, sort of shocking and refreshing at the same time. I suspect it’s true and he seemed to have solid scientific reasons for saying so. His conjectures about the reasons for differences between identical twins I also found new and, and made a lot of sense to me.The consistent finding that 40 to 50% of the statistical variation between individuals seems to be due to genetics, less than 10% to parents/personal home life, and the other 50% really not known but plausibly just the way people’s brains grow, not a direct effect of any environmental factors, makes sense to me.Obviously this science is still work in progress and I look forward to further developments.
All in all a very worthwhile book and interesting on multiple levels.

Magnificent

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Pinker skewers those who, either wittingly or willingly pervert science and art in order to prop up a belief system whose time has clearly come. More astonishing is the fact that he does so while giving far more time to the opposing viewpoint. Admittedly, this almost becomes tedious, but each chapter lets you off the hook with a healthy dose of real science. A must read for all natural and social scientists, philosophers and educators.

Informative

Lots of interesting info here, and Pinker's theories on human nature and behavior are obviously well-researched. It is a bit wordy, and the inclusion of long lists of individuals contributing to a topic is unnecessary. I do wish he took the alternative approach to some of this topics, as he pushes his own views pretty aggressively.

What is human nature?

In this title, Steven Pinker shows us how our human nature balances between innate psychological principles with some shaping from our environment. Themes that initially seem controversial are quickly taken to pragmatic and easily understood logical conclusions. A must read.