Nurture Depicted In Steven Pinker's The Blank Slate

Steven Pinker, a psychologist, spoke regarding his book, "The Blank Slate". He claims that humans are not born blank slates and that there are some innate traits present. He used the study of two twins separated at birth and raised in two completely different environments as an example. When studied, the twins showed plenty of similarities such as dipping buttered toast in tea or wearing the same blue shirt with a distinct collar. This example and many others like theirs proved how nature overcame nurture. The traits that were instilled in these two individuals aided in shaping their lives. Nurture did play a role as well but it was not as influential in this case. The circumstances may have been the same but not as apparent if they were raised together.

Their interests may be different but their innate traits would still be there. Pinker also discussed that in his book, there were a variety of controversial topics. There were two that caused a vast uproar; the arts and parenting. One of the topics focused on the idea that there is a decline in the arts. He says that there is a decline in certain areas such as humanities at the University level and post-1930's elite work but not art itself. The idea of art has changed. There are various forms today compared to before like graffiti or crumping. The different forms of art today are endless and still growing. Soon, some of the ways we express our art will become outdated and there will be other forms to replace them. The other topic revolved around