Midterm Question 6

The mind cannot be a blank slate, because blank slates don’t do anything. Pinker repeats this line a few times.
Personality – our genes provide us with our personality traits. To quote Pinker: “Psychologists have discovered that our personalities differ in five major ways: we are to varying degrees introverted or extroverted, neurotic or stable, incurious or open to experience, agreeable or antagonistic, and conscientious or undirected.” Depending upon our genetics, we could have any combination of these.

Intelligence – we as humans, are designed to think. We have several cognitive processes running all the time. It is with intelligence that we are able to incorporate logic and reason into everyday situations, recognize and respond appropriately to the actions of others, and communicate efficiently amongst others.

Behavior – how we are going to behave has already been determined by our genes. Whether we act shy, crazy, calm, etc is dependent upon our genes.

Prejudice – since everyone is born different and unequal with different talents and skills, it is a natural response to notice and recognize these differences, and to be prejudice.

Recognition – Pinker talked about how a robot could replicate the action of washing dishes, but it couldn’t understand or recognize the reason behind it. We see the act of washing the dishes, and can replicate it while recognizing the idea of trying to get the dishes clean. We as humans have the brain power to do that. We use reason, recognition, and logic to overcome everyday obstacles. Most of us were born with this gift.

Morals – Our morals come from our biology. We are not going to hit another person because deep down we either fear the retaliation, or we know the pain caused and do not wish it upon our neighbor. We know the feeling of right and wrong.