Questions about human nature pull at the very fabric of our beings. Cognitive scientist Steven Pinker writes that to understand ourselves and people around us, "we all need theories about what makes people tick." Perhaps that explains why members of the Adelphi community came out in droves on November 10th to listen to Dr. Pinker's theory of human nature.
Dr. Pinker is currently a professor of psychology at the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dr. Pinker's work reached the mainstream of the American public in 1998 with the publication of his Pulitzer Prize finalist work, How the Mind Works.
Last week, at the annual Lindemann Lecture in Human Development, Pinker came to Adelphi to discuss the content of his magnum opus on human nature, The Blank Slate. That book explores the history and ideas behind the "nature vs. nurture" question. This debate, which has been the center of discussions about human nature for centuries, spotlights those who believe that human nature is hereditary and programmed (nature) against others who argue that human nature is the product of socialization and experience (nurture). [ more... ]
