As described by some of the best reviews, this book is as much or more about the tides of toxic political and social ideology we're all wading through, as it is about human biology or human behavioral development. That said there's enough detail here on the subject of classic twin studies, heritability, and related topics to provide the proper grounding for Pinker's main argument: which is that the idea of a blank slate — at this point in our scientific journey as humans — has literally no legs to stand on. Those pushing the blank slate narrative basically missed the memo: nature vs. nurture is a settled match and nurture (mostly) got its butt kicked. Pinker sets the stage from there to give the reader some useful perspective on how to approach some of these woke tides we're facing.
* Quick Diversion *
For the uninitiated, if you follow the largely settled science of "nature or nurture", it can really lead us to only one place: the answer is "yes, but far more nature than nurture." Of course environment and the manner in which a person is raised can directly affect their psyche and other aspects, but it doesn't and could never build a person out of nothingness. Nor does it create an impact anywhere near as profound as our genes. Based on what we know now, who we are — our personality traits, innate strengths and weaknesses — is about 65% genetic, another 20% a function of human developmental biology (i.e. given the same sperm and egg, all sorts of things happen within the human body during that 9 months which make it impossible for those two cells to develop the same way twice — how you developed in the womb, was and only ever could be, a one-time event (!)
All those trillions of cellular operations that began you and continued outside the womb until roughly age 24 — simultaneously encoded and guided by our DNA and RNA, and also subject to a defined-range-of-randomness that occurs inside all organisms — had a direct impact on the specifics of your brain's wiring and by extension your way of perceiving and thinking, and on your behavior. Had your mother's womb been a little warmer, a little cooler, repleat with a diffierent combination of chemical nutrients on different days (and on and on), that same sperm and egg could've developed into a somewhat different person than who you are today. Maybe a bit more assertive, or a bit less risk-taking. Slightly rounder face, maybe slightly bigger ears. You get the idea.
This is why the sterotypical depiction in the media and hollywood about human cloning — or even cloning of pets — is misguided. Even if you take your dog Sir Bark-a-lot's exact DNA and clone him, you may end up with a dog that looks virtually the same but instead of barking a lot, the conditions of his development might yield a quieter dog with digestive sensitivities — enter Sir Barf-a-lot. You "forever pup" people looking to clone your best friend have been warned. *grin*
The rest of who and what we are can logically be attributed to "nurture" — our families, environmental advantages or disadvantages, and the like. But in the end it wasn't much of a contest once we started understanding human genetics and neuroscience at a deeper level.
* End Diversion *
Back to the book: Pinker could've filled the whole book with evidentiary content related to biology and environment, overloadig us with stats and sound-bites, but that's not what the book is about. Pinker is a brilliant mind who pulls no punches when it comes to the zealotry of the blank slaters, but he does it in a way that is thoughtful and measured — something pretty rare these days (especially in the media). For this reason alone you should read the book to get some perspective that you are unlikely to get elsewhere.
Ultimately Pinker wants us to do two things we should all be able to do, but often fail to do — hold two related but somewhat competing thoughts in our brains at the same time:
1)Hold in your mind the settled science that we are who we are, largely because of our genes and the molecular processes at work in the human body during embryonic and early years development, with a modest amount accounted for by human experience afterward... and...
2) the idea that it is not necessary to take the woke approach, that you don't have to get to "a better here, by going there" (i.e. believing there are 8 billion blank slates defining mankind as a hopeless cause that needs to be reigned in by a system of vigilant do-gooders and policy-makers). We can simply say who we are as a society is definitely flawed, and act on it. There is injustice and cruelty and war afoot; we can and must speak out against them (as the woke will do), but we don't need twist settled biological science into a pretzel and add a helping of righteous indignation to do it.
Buy the book. You'll learn a lot and maybe can even glean a few ideas how to get the well-meaning wokesters in your clan to settle down a bit. : )
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Top reviews from other countries
ABU
TAN ABSOLUTAMENTE INDISPENSABLE QUE TE ENCABRONARÁ NO HABERLO LEÍDO ANTES
Reviewed in Mexico 🇲🇽 on February 11, 2019Tito
Qual é a natureza humana? Viemos em branco pra essa terra pra exercer nosso livre arbítrio???
Reviewed in Brazil 🇧🇷 on March 7, 2018
shorebird
ピンカーによるNature vsNurture論争（あるいはそれがいかにずれた問題意識か）の総括
Reviewed in Japan 🇯🇵 on August 11, 2003
