Category Archives: Steven Pinker

Steven Pinker: THE BLANK SLATE, post 5

Posted on 24 July 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

After being distracted by Texas affairs, politics, Riven, and reading Brian Greene and others, let’s get back to this book and try to finish summarizing it and capturing key points. This and one more post. Earlier posts about this book: … Continue reading →

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Steven Pinker: THE BLANK SLATE, post 4

Posted on 26 June 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

Another five chapters, mostly addressing the fears people have with the idea of an innate human nature, as opposed to the idealized blank slate: concerning inequality, imperfectibility, determinism, and nihilism. Earlier posts about this book: post 1, post 2, post … Continue reading →

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Steven Pinker: THE BLANK SLATE, post 3

Posted on 24 June 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

Summaries and comments about three more chapters of Steven Pinker’s THE BLANK SLATE; And YouTube tracks from one of my favorite film scores: Richard Robbins’ for The Remains of the Day. I’ll try to get through the rest of book … Continue reading →

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Steven Pinker: THE BLANK SLATE, post 2

Posted on 5 June 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

(Advisory: I’m traveling to Austin TX tomorrow through Sunday, and so will not be posting here until next Monday, likely.) A key point about this book is that Pinker shows how the facts (the science) of human nature undermine both … Continue reading →

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Steven Pinker: THE BLANK SLATE, post 1

Posted on 4 June 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

Subtitled: “The Modern Denial of Human Nature” (Viking, Oct. 2002, 509pp, including 75pp appendix, notes, references, and index) This is an enormous, thorough book on a topic already covered to some extent by several of the other major books I’ve … Continue reading →

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Progress and Retreat

Posted on 2 May 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

A reading from Steven Pinker, about progress the MAGA folks are reacting against; Double standards about Trump and presidential immunity; J.D. Vance and protesters; DeSantis and woke banks; the National Day of Prayer; another Republican taking advantage of a bill … Continue reading →

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Steven Pinker’s HOW THE MIND WORKS, post 5

Posted on 27 February 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

Several quotes, in addition to those already provided. From Chapter 3, Pinker makes an essential point about how natural selection works. People aren’t driven by their genes to reproduce or even survive — not consciously; people are driven by their … Continue reading →

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Steven Pinker, HOW THE MIND WORKS, post 4

Posted on 26 February 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

Chapter 8, “The Meaning of Life,” is the last 45 page chapter of this 565 page (counting only text) book. Here he covers matters of human culture, much as Wilson did at the end of his 1978 book. Given that … Continue reading →

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Steven Pinker, HOW THE MIND WORKS, post 3

Posted on 25 February 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

Chapter 7, “Family Values,” about the psychology of social relations, is the longest chapter in the book, and second-to-last. The author begins by recalling that period in the 1960s when activists and folk singers called for peace and understanding, a … Continue reading →

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Steven Pinker, HOW THE MIND WORKS, post 2

Posted on 24 February 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

The last few chapters are especially rich and fascinating. Here’s Chapter 6, about human emotions. Ch6, Hotheads