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November 27, 2005
Book Review: The Blank Slate
No idea has been debated so thoroughly, no subject has fascinated more thinkers than the nature of man. For millennia, thinkers have used the tools of philosophy--observation and reflection--to examine this perennial question. Only in the latter part of the twentieth century have the tools of science been fully applied to the study of human nature.
Science's entrance into the fray has not been smooth. The debate thus generated has exactly been what a scientific debate should not be. Childish name-calling, sexual innuendo, and the occasional blood libel have ruled the day.
In The Blank Slate: the Modern Denial of Human Nature, Cognitive Scientist Steven Pinker attempts to explain this apparent paradox. The book, as he explains in the introduction, is "about the moral, emotional, and political colorings of the concept of human nature in modern life." He traces the history of the debate over human nature through time and across academic disciplines, in a rigorous and clear volume. He then brings his considerable skills to bear on a deep and treacherous subject.
At this point, an alert reader may wonder what on earth does an academic debate on human nature has to do with Islam. I say everything. If you are trying to develop and implement an strategy to wage a war for your very survival, you better know why your enemies act the way they do. (Your enemies happen to be human.) More specifically:
If your enemies are building a nuclear reactor: what motivates them; is it fear, lust for power, or wounded pride?
If your enemies are moving in droves into your country: will they become like you, will they remain different but tolerate your alien values, or will they attempt to gain power, and force you to submit to them?
If your enemies...: wait a second, are they really your enemies? Or do they behave the way they do because of the way you treat them?
Not knowing the truth about these matters carries a serious penalty. For civilizations--for our civilization--that penalty might be death.
Posted by Ruy Diaz at November 27, 2005 12:38 AM
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