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A review by davemmett
The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature by Steven Pinker
5.0
While I had never believed that humans are born as a Blank Slate, I hadn't really considered the effect that this belief has on how people interpret the world - and how they work to change it.
A few things I took away from this:
The naturalistic and moralistic fallacy.
What is good is natural. What is natural is good.
This fallacy is so widespread in our society. Food is only good for you if it's natural. Violence can't be natural, because we know it isn't good.
Over-moralizing
We like to turn almost anything into a moral argument, which makes it nearly impossible to reach a mutually beneficial agreement for different groups (see - abortion debates, the design of Starbucks coffee cups, the appropriate number of flags to display on your car).
The Utopian Vision vs. the Tragic Vision
The Utopian vision is that we can create a perfect society if we just put our minds to it. The Tragic Vision is that we shouldn't presume to be able to define a perfect environment for ourselves or others. I feel very old when I say the (unfortunately named) Tragic Vision is more convincing.
Highly recommended.
A few things I took away from this:
The naturalistic and moralistic fallacy.
What is good is natural. What is natural is good.
This fallacy is so widespread in our society. Food is only good for you if it's natural. Violence can't be natural, because we know it isn't good.
Over-moralizing
We like to turn almost anything into a moral argument, which makes it nearly impossible to reach a mutually beneficial agreement for different groups (see - abortion debates, the design of Starbucks coffee cups, the appropriate number of flags to display on your car).
The Utopian Vision vs. the Tragic Vision
The Utopian vision is that we can create a perfect society if we just put our minds to it. The Tragic Vision is that we shouldn't presume to be able to define a perfect environment for ourselves or others. I feel very old when I say the (unfortunately named) Tragic Vision is more convincing.
Highly recommended.