The blank slate‚ written by Steven Pinker; an experimental psychologist and cognitive scientist‚ examines the ideas behind the ongoing debate regarding human nature and the theories of nature and nurture. The book begins with and in depth outline of the three doctrines of the nurture debate‚ the first being “The blank slate” which asserts that individuals are “born void of all characters without any ideas” as stated by John Locke (1632-1704) and that behavior is learnt from society and those around
Premium Nature versus nurture Evolutionary psychology Tabula rasa
a punch? Does it surprise you? Well‚ that is how Steven Pinker‚ a professor of psychology at Harvard‚ decided to start his article “What the F***” in The New Republic. It seems inappropriate that a Harvard professor would start any piece of writing in this way; however‚ as the piece goes on‚ his stance on cursing loses its initially crude air and becomes a more credible‚ scientific argument. By introducing cursing in a new scholarly light‚ Pinker is able to morph the reader’s initial repulsion to
Premium Profanity Fuck
REBUTTAL TO STEVEN PINKER’S PRESENTATION IN “THE GENDER AND SCIENCE DEBATE BETWEEN PINKER AND SPELKE” Steven Pinker’s presentation on the gender and science debate brings into foray the controversial and the somewhat touchy topic of under representation of women in the field of physical sciences‚ mathematics and engineering concentrating on the elite universities like Massachusetts institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard University. In a niftily presented staging of his points‚ Pinker keeps the
Premium Science Mathematics Scientific method
languages used within his or her culture‚ influence his or her thoughts‚ ideas‚ and view of the world. The strong version of the hypothesis claims that languages bind all human thoughts and actions. The weaker version says that language shapes our thinking and behavior. Explanation of this hypothesis will be more understandable by examples‚ especially when it involves cultural differences. If a culture values certain ideas more than another culture‚ this culture tends to have a greater variety
Free Linguistic relativity Linguistics Benjamin Lee Whorf
This article begins with an example of a woman who suffered brain trauma after a car crash and now lives in a vegetative state (she is unable to respond to visual‚ physical‚ or auditory stimuli). Belgian and British scientists conducted an experiment on her through the use of an MRI that showed blood flow to parts of the brain that still remained active. After speaking to her and asking her to imagine various situations‚ a discovery was made showing that different regions of the brain associated
Premium Mind Unconscious mind Philosophy of mind
debate‚ Steven Pinker and Elizabeth Spelke‚ discussed prevalent and recent research on the mind‚ brain‚ and behavior that may constitute for the differences in men and women. On the one hand‚ Steven Pinker‚ focused on the real sex differences that he believes to exist. As a result‚ he presents to the audience with evidence‚ throughout his presentation in order‚ to in reality‚ present and support his argument that there are‚ in fact‚ sex differences between men and women. For example‚ Pinker states
Premium Gender Gender role Male
Words don’t mean what they mean 4) Pinker’s essay has been read by many people since it appeared in the Time magazine. His use of linguistics concepts have been very effective because he used logical examples which people use in everyday life. When he talks about the movie “Tootsie” and how the actress threw wine on Hoffmans face. This showed how directly he asked her. He also gives an example from the show Seinfeld where George is asked by his date if he would like to come up for “coffee” which
Premium Writing Linguistics Cognition
buildings hold a distinguished identity for Architect Steven Holl . His use of materials ‚ colours and textures and my emphasis on PHENOMENOL depicts his adaptation of the theory of PHENOMENOLOGY ‚ are the various considerations through which Holl’s Architecture can be Distinguished. Steven Holl got his undergraduate degree from University of Washington and also attended graduate school at the AA school of Architecture and currently runs Steven Holl Architects a 40-person office in New York. He Also
Premium Architecture Phenomenology
Synopsis Steven Spielberg was born on December 18‚ 1946‚ in Cincinnati‚ Ohio. An amateur filmmaker as a child‚ Spielberg went on to become the enormously successful and Academy Award-winning director of such films as Schindler’s List‚ The Color Purple‚ E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial and Saving Private Ryan. In 1994‚ he cofounded the studio Dreamworks SKG‚ which was purchased by Paramount Pictures in 2005.Early Career Filmmaker‚ director and producer Steven Spielberg was born on December 18‚ 1946
Premium Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg was born in Cincinnati‚ Ohio on December 18‚ 1946‚ to an Orthodox Jewish family. In 1953‚ the family moved to Phoenix‚ AZ where Steven Spielberg went to Hebrew school from 1953 to 1957. In his early teen years‚ Spielberg made his first home movie of a train wreck with his toy Lionel trains. Growing up‚ Spielberg had made nine-minute 8 mm film and one of his films was entitled The Last Gunfight. As Steven Spielberg grew up in Phoenix‚ he would charge admission to his
Premium Film Family High school