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> We're stuck with Enlightenment age thinking such as "tabula rasa" Nobody has actually believed in that for decades, and it certainly isn't present in the pub
by hhjinks 8y ago
> We're stuck with Enlightenment age thinking such as "tabula rasa"
Nobody has actually believed in that for decades, and it certainly isn't present in the public consciousness.
- mcculley 8y agoLots of people believe that the human mind is a blank slate and that culture defines humans more than any inherited neural architecture. I disagree with that conclusion, but it certainly is not “nobody”. One need look no further than the angry screeds in response to evolutionary psychology.
- amanaplanacanal 8y agoI suspect we will learn a lot from evolutionary psychology. Unfortunately it has a long history of "just so" stories, and being used to justify all sorts of racist and misogynist beliefs. It's hard to get rid of that kind of baggage once you've acquired it.
- mcculley 8y agoNot all of evolutionary psychology is what people call the "just so" stories. Any understanding that we are born with more than a blank slate that shapes our thinking is "evolutionary psychology". That is an unpleasant conclusion for those who want to believe that all undesirable human behavior is the fault of culture.
- mmirate 8y agoOn the contrary, tabula rasa is one of the most sacred axioms of modern Progressivism.