Insights on Pinker's "The Blank State"

Something that struck me in Pinker’s “The Blank Slate” is the statement “the idea is that if we’re blank slates, we must be equal.” This statement somewhat confirms and contradicts what I know is right. I would think that when we are newborns, we are blank slates and we are all equal. However, that is ignoring nature (i.e. the environment we are born into, whether that be a poorer family, a minority family, etc.) Babies are all born brand new with no idea of what the world holds for them. This statement really struck me because of all the inequality our world is facing right now, racial and gender inequality. The idea that we are born equal, as beings that have no voice, but a body and brain means we are blank and malleable. From my own life, I think my experiences and how my parents influenced me is how I turned out to be. I come from a middle class family and my parents were immigrants. I was born in the United States, however my parents had different values than the typical American culture. They raised me in a strict household where education was everything to make sure I ended up nothing like them. Our situation isn’t even that bad, yet my parents instilled success and wealth into my young mind to potentially become a medical doctor someday. Although when I was younger, being a doctor sounded fun, but as an adult finishing up my undergrad… I’m completely unsure of what I want to do and I feel like a failure to my parents. It is because of their influence that I take a completely normal feeling and turn it into one of the main stressors in my life. That is why I think the influences and experiences as a young child is important for how they develop psychologically. This is how everyone has different values than I do. To compare, I have a friend whose parents didn’t put such pressure on her and now she is living her life traveling and working of her photography. Our situations are different because of our different experiences and values instilled into us as young children.  

When most things are psychological, there is a lot at stake. The way people think represents what they do and how they treat other people. The way they think was influenced by someone else’s thoughts and experiences. This can scar or inspire a young child’s malleable mind. An example would be Elliot’s article on people who desire to be amputees. I don’t think someone is born with the will to cut off a limb, but have an experience that led them to this desire. The way people interact with one another is important to how one’s mind is developed throughout their life.