The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature

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The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature Page 72

by Steven Pinker


  Beyond Freedom and Dignity (Skinner), 169

  Bible, 2, 128–29

  Bierce, Ambrose, 240

  Big Chill, The, 264

  biology:

  intuitive, 220

  reductionism and, 69–72

  soul concept and, 224–27

  biophilia, 405

  birth order, 389–90

  “Black Male” art exhibit, 217, 411

  Black Panthers, 111, 301

  Blank Slate, 11, 17

  origin of term, 5

  rise of, 16–17

  see also specific topics

  blind people, 94–96

  Block, Ned, 11

  Boas, Franz, 22, 25, 66–67, 207

  Boehm, Christopher, 298

  Bogart, Humphrey, 163

  bonobos, 45

  Borges, Jorge Luis, 59

  Bork, Robert, 130

  Born to Rebel (Sulloway), 381, 389

  Boston Globe, 86, 309, 339, 360, 370, 382, 394–95

  Botticelli, Sandro, 408

  Bouchard, Thomas, 378, 381

  Bourdieu, Pierre, 407–8, 413

  bourgeoisie, 128, 152, 157, 158, 410, 416

  bowerbirds, 407–8

  Bowles, Samuel, 303

  Boyd, Brian, 417

  Braceras, Jennifer, 353

  Braille, 94–96

  brain, 21, 41–45, 74, 83–100, 423–24

  anatomy of, 44

  art and, 405, 412

  cognitive neuroscience and, 41–45

  complexity of, 197

  corpus callosum severed in, 43

  damage to, 42–45, 98–100, 265

  development of, 83–100, 227, 386–87, 396–97

  genetics and, 49, 90–94, 98

  hemispheres of, 43, 99

  inhibition and, 44

  plasticity of, 44–45, 74, 83–100

  sex differences in, 347

  visual cortex of, 87–97

  see also neural plasticity

  “Brain Is Wider Than the Sky, The” (Dickinson), 423–24

  Brain Storm (Dooling), 176

  Brando, Marlon, 375

  Brasília, 170

  Brazelton, T. Berry, 386, 394

  Brecht, Bertolt, 170

  Breggin, Peter, 314

  Breland, Keller, 20

  Breland, Marian, 20

  Brennan, William, 181

  Britain, 16, 68, 71, 144, 296

  Broca, Paul, 44

  Brooks, Rodney, 61

  Brown, Donald, 55, 57, 435–39

  Brown, Roger, 205

  Brownmiller, Susan, 361–62, 363–64, 365, 368

  Bruer, Jon, 386–87

  Bryan, William Jennings, 130

  Buckley, William F., 130, 262

  Buddha, 163

  Bueno de Mesquita, Bruce, 319

  Bukharin, Nikolai, 156

  Burke, Edmund, 287, 289

  Buruma, Ian, 280

  Bush, George W., 12, 130, 274

  Buss, David, 316

  Butler, Judith, 415, 416

  Byatt, A.S., 419

  Calvin and Hobbes, 187

  Cambodia, 152, 155, 158

  Canada, 16, 311, 331, 333

  cannibalism, 306–7, 320

  capitalism, 161, 246–47, 290–91, 297, 302–4, 393

  capital punishment, 181–82, 331

  Carey, Susan, 222

  Carnegie, Andrew, 16

  Carroll, Joseph, 417

  Cashdan, Elizabeth, 342

  categorization, 201–7, 228–29

  Centers for Disease Control, 312

  cerebral palsy, 99

  Cézanne, Paul, 409

  Chagnon, Napoleon, 115–19, 314, 323, 334, 431

  Chamberlain, Neville, 333

  Chandigarh, 170

  Cheers, 403

  Chekhov, Anton, xi

  child abuse, 164–65, 308–9

  child development:

  chance in, 396

  family effects in, 249, 378–99

  heritability of traits in, 373–78

  childrearing, see parenting

  chimpanzees, 45, 61–62, 89, 134, 143, 316, 367

  China, 152, 155, 158, 246

  Chinese Revolution, 11, 152, 155–58, 295

  Chirot, Daniel, 170

  Chomsky, Noam, 35, 36, 37–38, 55, 70, 71, 146–47, 246–47, 255, 300–301

  Christian fundamentalism, 128–29

  Chugani, Harry, 86

  Chung, Connie, 375

  Churchill, Winston, 296, 306, 333

  Clark, Ramsey, 313

  Clarke, Arthur C., 337

  Claverie, Jean-Michel, 77

  Clemenceau, Georges, 287

  Clinton, Bill, 179, 211, 312, 353, 386

  Clinton, Hillary, 179–80, 386, 394

  cloning, 224, 225–26, 274

  Club of Rome, 237

  cognitive dissonance, 265, 294

  cognitive psychology, 202–3

  cognitive science, 31, 417, 418

  Cohen, Dov, 327, 328

  collectivization, 246

  combinatorial thought, 36–37, 79–81, 236–39, 299, 335–36

  Commentary, 130

  communes, 246, 257–58

  communism, see Marxism

  communism, primitive, 255

  compositionality, 36–37, 80, 236–39, 335–36

  computation, 31–34

  Computer Power and Human Reason (Weizenbaum), 105

  conditioning:

  classical, 19, 94, 413

  operant, 19, 169

  Condorcet, Marquis de, 288

  Conflict of Visions, A (Sowell), 287

  conflict resolution, 58, 168, 330–31, 332–36

  conformity, 63–65, 271–72, 294

  Confucius, 142, 193

  connectionism, 21, 27–28, 35–36, 74–75, 78, 79–82, 100

  Conquest, Robert, 170

  Conquest of Granada, The (Dryden), 6

  conservatism, 128–33, 283–305, 394

  consilience, 30, 60, 68, 69–70

  Consilience (Wilson), 108, 134

  Constitution, U.S., 297–98

  cooperation, 53, 242–43, 255–59

  Coren, Stanley, 121

  cortex, 84, 87–100

  auditory, 95–97

  prefrontal, 100

  ventromedial, 100

  visual, 87–97, 99

  Cosmides, Leda, 134, 233, 342, 365

  Council on Bioethics, 130

  Cowen, Tyler, 403

  creationism, 1–2, 128–30, 132–33

  Crick, Francis, 30, 41, 88

  crime, 47, 50–51, 261–63, 286, 292–93, 304, 306–7, 310–12, 315–17, 326, 328–29, 330–32

  genetics and, 47, 50–51, 176, 178

  peer groups and, 391–92

  punishment and, 180–85, 263, 293, 330–32

  see also rape; violence; psychopathy

  Crime in America (Clark), 313

  Crime of Imprisonment, The (Shaw), 181

  Crime of Punishment, The (Menninger), 181

  critical period, 387

  critical theory, 198

  Critique of Practical Reason (Kant), 193

  Crittenden, Danielle, 339

  Croce, Jim, 326

  Cronin, Helena, 342

  Cuban Missile Crisis, 334, 335

  Cultural Revolution, 152

  cultural studies, 198, 213–14

  culture:

  autonomy of, 23–24, 27

  differences in, 68–69

  emotions and, 38–39

  epidemiological models of, 65

  learning of, 59–72

  material success and, 67

  neural circuitry and, 60

  socialization and, 377, 391, 399

  stability and change in, 66

  Culture of Honor (Nisbett and Cohen), 327

  Dahmer, Jeffrey, 263

  Daly, Martin, 135, 164–65, 182, 254, 304, 313, 319, 325, 327

  Damasio, Antonio, 99–100

  Damasio, Hannah, 9
9–100

  Daniels, Denise, 381

  Danto, Arthur, 409

  Darkness in El Dorado (Tierney), 116

  Darrow, Clarence, 130

  Darwin, Charles, 2, 15, 28, 30, 51, 66, 132, 151, 186, 254, 285, 305

  Darwinian Left, A (Singer), 298, 300

  Dawkins, Richard, 53, 112, 113, 114, 191, 241, 318–19

  deafness, 95, 391

  Death by Government (Rummel), 332

  decision making, 40, 42–44, 51, 58, 174–75, 302–3

  Declaration of Independence, 145

  deconstructionism, 198, 208, 209

  see also postmodernism

  Deep Blue, 33–34

  Degler, Carl, 17

  de Kenessey, Stefania, 417

  Delaney Clause, 278

  Delay, Tom, 129

  democracy, 296–98

  Denfeld, Rene, 343

  Dennett, Dan, 10, 177, 216

  Derrida, Jacques, 208

  Derrière Guard, 417

  Descartes, René, 8, 9–10, 42, 126, 215

  determinism, 112–13, 122, 127, 174–85

  deterrence, 180–85, 324–29, 330–32

  Devil’s Dictionary, The (Bierce), 240

  DeVore, Irven, 111, 238

  de Waal, Frans, 168, 298

  Dialectical Biologist, The (Levins), 126

  dialectical biology, 113, 126, 135

  Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems (Galileo), 138

  Diamond, Jared, 68–69

  Dickeman, Mildred, 342

  Dickens, Charles, 291–92

  Dickinson, Emily, 423–24

  Dictator game, 256, 257

  Didion, Joan, 342–43

  difference feminism, 342

  Discovery Institute, 161

  discrimination, 141, 145–49, 201–2, 204–7, 214, 217, 311–12

  age, 148

  sex, 337–39, 341, 351, 354, 355, 357

  Disney, Walt, 11

  Disraeli, Benjamin, 287

  Dissanayake, Ellen, 404–5, 406

  Divale, WT., 57

  Dooling, Richard, 176

  Dostoevsky, Fyodor, 41, 307

  Double-Blind Dictator game, 257

  Douglas, William O., 181, 265

  Dred Scott decision, 292

  drug policies, 331–32

  Dryden, John, 6

  dualism, 8–9, 10

  see also Ghost in the Machine; mind-matter divide; soul

  Dunbar, Robin, 298

  Durham decision, 184

  Durkheim, Emile, 23–24, 25, 108, 156, 284, 286, 427

  Dutton, Denis, 404, 406–7, 415, 417

  Dworkin, Andrea, 171, 365

  Dworkin, Ronald, 288

  Eagly, Alice, 309

  Easterlin, Nancy, 417

  Eastwood, Clint, 219

  economics:

  behavioral, 256–58, 302–4

  human nature as seen in, 256, 285–86, 302–3

  intuitive, 221, 233–36, 302–3

  education, 222–23, 235–36, 301

  arts and humanities in, 401

  Ehrlich, Paul, 237

  Einstein, Albert, 44, 410

  Eiseley, Loren, 28

  Ekman, Paul, 39, 107–8

  Elbow Room (Dennett), 176–77

  Eliot, T.S., 301, 400

  elitism, 149, 301, 425

  Eliza, 105

  Ellwood, Charles, 27

  Elman, Jeffrey, 35–36, 84

  Elshtain, Jean Bethke, 342

  Ember, Carol, 57

  emotions, 39–40, 168

  altruism and, 255

  culture and, 38–39

  morality and, 271–72

  empiricism, 5, 22, 23, 27–28, 34, 36, 124

  autism and, 62

  see also Blank Slate

  employment, gender gap in, 351–61

  Enemies, A Love Story (Singer), 431–34

  Engels, Friedrich, 126, 127, 155, 255

  engineering, intuitive, 220

  English language, 14–15, 37–38, 71

  Enlightenment, 5–7, 10–11, 18, 22, 251, 337–38, 341

  environmentalism, 154, 162

  Equal Protection clause, 298

  Equal Rights Amendment, 340

  equity feminism, 341, 343, 354, 363, 369

  Essay Concerning Human Understanding, An (Locke), 5–6

  essentialism, 230, 231

  Estrich, Susan, 353, 357

  estrogen, 346, 348

  ethnic groups:

  genetic differences among, 143–44

  neologisms for, 211–13

  stereotypes about, 201–7

  violence and, 315, 323

  ethnocentrism, 294, 323

  eugenics, 16, 109, 110, 115, 116, 132, 134, 141, 152–53

  euphemisms, 211–13

  European Union, 229

  euthanasia, 227, 228

  Evans, David, 417

  Eve, 2

  evolution, 2, 15, 89, 187, 242

  conservative critique of, 128–29, 299

  cooperation in, 58, 64, 167, 242–44, 255–259

  creationism and, 132–33

  genome and, 91

  group selection and, 258–59

  of humans, 16, 53, 238

  intuitive faculties and, 223

  see also natural selection

  evolutionary psychology, 51–58, 68, 89–90, 111, 125, 131, 134, 142, 245, 296, 299, 303, 341–42, 389

  arts and, 417, 418

  deterrence and, 182, 324–27

  rape and, 359–60

  stepparenting and, 164–65

  Evolution of Human Sexuality, The (Symons), 114–15

  Expanding Circle, The (Singer), 167, 320

  Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals, The (Darwin), 107–8

  eyes, 51

  Fagan, Jeffrey, 329

  families:

  in behavioral genetics, 378–87

  conflict in, 247–51

  love in, 245–47

  and politics, 247, 266–68, 294, 427

  see also parenting

  Farah, Martha, 99

  Faris, Ellsworth, 24

  Faris, Robert, 27

  Farley, Frank, 394

  fate, 397–98

  Fausto-Sterling, Anne, 346

  Fear of Flying (Jong), 253

  fears, 231

  Feminine Mystique, The (Friedan), 351

  feminism, 160, 161, 171–72, 338–43

  difference, 342

  equity, 341, 343, 354, 363, 369

  gender, 341–43, 361–62, 365–66, 367

  Ferguson, Andrew, 131, 133

  feuds, 324–29, 430–31

  Feynman, Richard, 239

  Fisher, Helen, 342, 355

  Fiske, Alan, 233, 247, 257

  Flynn, James, 206

  Fodor, Jerry, 35, 80

  folk psychology, see theory of mind

  Food and Drug Act (1958), 278

  Forster, E.M., 296

  Foucault, Michel, 415, 416

  Fox-Genovese, Elizabeth, 342

  Frank, Robert, 259, 276, 303

  Franklin, Benjamin, 168

  Frazer, James George, 230

  Freedman, Jonathan, 311

  Freeman, Derek, 56, 115

  free-rider problem, 257, 259

  free will, 127–28, 175–80, 397

  French Revolution, 159, 170, 289, 295

  frequency-dependent selection, 260–61

  Freud, Sigmund, 40, 43, 191, 264, 381, 410

  Friedan, Betty, 171, 351, 353

  Friedman, Milton, 287, 393

  Furchtgott-Roth, Diana, 353

  Gabriel, Peter, 403

  Gage, Phineas, 42, 100

  Galbraith, John Kenneth, 288

  Galileo Galilei, 9–10, 137–39, 207

  Galton, Francis, 16

  game theory, 58, 182, 242–43, 255–59, 323, 334–35

  Gardner, Howard, 222

  Garfunkel, Art, 22

  Gauguin, Paul, 409

  Gazzani
ga, Michael, 43

  Geary, David, 222–23

  Geertz, Clifford, 25, 208

  Gell-Mann, Murray, 239

  Gelman, Susan, 230

  gender, see sex differences

  gender feminism, 341–43, 361–62, 365–66, 367

  gender gap, 340, 351–61

  generative grammar, 37–38, 166, 236, 336

  genes:

  antisocial acts and, 50–51

  autism and, 46, 62

  brain and, 49

  crime and, 47, 50–51, 176, 178

  emergenic traits and, 152–53

  intelligence and, 47, 106–7, 149, 150, 373–78

  language and, 48, 49

  mental illness and, 46

  Neel and, 116–17

  personality and, 45–51, 373–78

  “selfish,” 53, 191

  violence and, 51, 175, 176, 314, 315

  see also behavioral genetics

  genetically modified foods, 229–30, 231

  genetic variation, 49–50, 142–45, 373–74

  genius, 44

  genome, human, 48, 74, 75–78, 197, 396

  in denials of human nature, 74, 75–78, 100, 101–2

  evolution and, 91

  human complexity and, 77

  number of genes in, 74, 75–78

  variability in, 142–43

  germ theory of disease, 154

  Gestalt, 418

  Ghiglieri, Michael, 166

  Ghost in the Machine, 9, 11, 28–29, 31, 133, 224, 243, 293

  determinism and, 174, 175–76

  genetics and, 51, 74

  neural plasticity and, 87

  neuroscience and, 42, 44, 129

  radical science defense of, 126–28

  responsibility and, 184

  right-wing support of, 128–29

  Gibran, Kahlil, 249

  Gigerenzer, Gerd, 302

  Gilbert, William, 283

  Gilligan, Carol, 171, 342

  Gilmore, Gary, 261

  Gingrich, Newt, 244

  Gintis, Herbert, 303, 304

  glass ceiling, 351–52

  Glendon, Mary Ann, 272

  Glover, Jonathan, 170, 274, 279, 320–21, 335

  Godfather, The, 182

  Godwin, William, 11, 287, 288

  Goffman, Erving, 264

  Goldberg, Tiffany F, 178

  Goldblum, Jeff, 264

  Golden Rule, 168–69, 187–88, 193, 224, 274–75, 336

  Goldin, Claudia, 353

  Golding, William, 124

  Goldman, Emma, 153

  Good Morning America, 262

  Gopnik, Adam, 217, 416

  gorillas, 367

  Gorky, Maxim, 156

  Gottfredson, Linda, 342, 353, 359

  Gottschall, Jonathan, 417

  Gould, Stephen Jay, 109, 111, 114, 122, 124–25, 127, 132, 133, 149, 162–63

  Gowaty, Patricia, 342

  Graglia, F. Carolyn, 339

  Great Chain of Being, 137–39

  Great Society, 286

  Green, Ronald, 228

  Greene, Graham, 245

  Grogger, Jeff, 329

  group mind, 26, 108, 158

  see also superorganism

  group selection, 258–59

  Group Socialization theory, 390–98

  public reaction to, 392–95

  Gulag Archipelago, The (Solzhenitsyn), 157

 

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