Steven Pinker takes part in a development that believes the larger part of human behaviour and characteristics derives from genetic phonemicist. Pinker introduced his speech with his popular theory that the human mind is a blank slate. He argued that most humans are born with natural attributes due to genetics, which many find a controversial conclusion. The basis of his speech connected reasons, to why most disregard his argument. He chose this approach despite a proper analysis of the connection between genetics and human behaviour. Throughout, Pinker explained briefly that many misconceptions and controversial topics helped critics neglect his claim. Pinker explained that human universals impact how most perceive his genetic theory. There …show more content…
Pinker continued this argument with a supported quote from a distressed mother. She was hesitant on how to implement proper fundamentals for her children as they age into adults. He referenced this mother’s opinion by answer her pressing question. He concluded that most studies on parenting are useless and do not control for heritability (Pinker, 19:15). Steven supported his claim by referring to the Mallifert twins. These two male twins were separated at birth, but still remained to share the same qualities in personality. He concluded that this is due to genetically composed studies. He clarified that even if the male twins lived in the same household, there would not be an increase or decrease in similar qualities. He touched the subject of another experiment that presented two adoptive siblings raised in the same household that did not share similarities at all. He revealed that these two studies were different, but their results formulate the same discovery. Pinker inferred that children are not shaped by parenting, but by genetics and …show more content…
This tactic helped him diminish the controversy to these topics by explaining why they are not valid judgments. Although, he failed to provide the components that truly defined the ‘Blank Slate’. He included examples of other psychologists who received the same backlash due to controversial studies. He added subtle comic relief between his speech which persuaded the audience to side with his claim. He also showed how many criticized without sufficient knowledge. In doing this, he supported his claim by debunking the criticism. Though, this method was also a major weakness as it is commonly known as the straw man fallacy. “A straw man argument distracts the listener by focusing on a distorted version of the target argument, rather than focusing on the argument itself” (MacDonald & Vaughn, p.184). The entire argument was formatted using this fallacy which caused the audience to be misrepresented of the main topic. For example, as he tried to convey logical connections between the points raised, it became unclear of what the ‘Blank Slate’ was. It may have been easier to believe his claim if material such as the types of art were entirely left out of the argument to refrain from confusion. Pinker also demonstrated a well known fallacy called hasty generalization. This fallacy is defined as someone who draws a conclusion about a
Despite there being hundreds of video game releases every year, most of these games are unoriginal and therefore unplayable. There are countless video game genres, but one of the most popular genres in the past few years have been the zombie games, also called survival games. I was thoroughly convinced that all the games in this genre were clichéd and overdone, until I played the video game The Last of Us. Even though it is a survival game, the focus is not on gruesome zombies or gratuitous violence, making it already vastly different from the others. Instead, the focus is on telling a story. Between the gorgeous graphics, serene music, and flawless acting, it already goes beyond being just another “zombie game,” but this isn’t even accounting
In 102 Minutes, Chapter 7, authors Dwyer and Flynn use ethos, logos, and pathos to appeal to the readers’ consciences, minds and hearts regarding what happened to the people inside the Twin Towers on 9/11. Of particular interest are the following uses of the three appeals.
The tone during the whole plot of in Brave New World changes when advancing throughout the plot, but it often contains a dark and satiric aspect. Since the novel was originally planned to be written as a satire, the tone is ironic and sarcastic. Huxley's sarcastic tone is most noticeable in the conversations between characters. For instance, when the director was educating the students about the past history, he states that "most facts about the past do sound incredible (Huxley 45)." Through the exaggeration of words in the statement of the director, Huxley's sarcastic tone obviously is portrayed. As a result of this, the satirical tone puts the mood to be carefree.
In the book Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer wrote about Christopher McCandless, a nature lover in search for independence, in a mysterious and hopeful experience. Even though Krakauer tells us McCandless was going to die from the beginning, he still gave him a chance for survival. As a reader I wanted McCandless to survive. In Into the Wild, Krakauer gave McCandless a unique perspective. He was a smart and unique person that wanted to be completely free from society. Krakauer included comments from people that said McCandless was crazy, and his death was his own mistake. However, Krakauer is able to make him seem like a brave person. The connections between other hikers and himself helped in the explanation of McCandless’s rational actions. Krakauer is able to make McCandless look like a normal person, but unique from this generation. In order for Krakauer to make Christopher McCandless not look like a crazy person, but a special person, I will analyze the persuading style that Krakauer used in Into the Wild that made us believe McCandless was a regular young adult.
This would suggest that parents have a great deal of influence on their offspring in the course of their formative years, even those parents who may be a bit more unusual in some of their personality quirks or attitudes. Children tend to pick up on and mimic the traits of their mom or dad, both their negative and positive attributes. My own childhood was unconventional in some aspects, such as in the frequency with which we moved from place to place, much like American nomads in the latter part of the previous century. This would in itself have contributed to the evolution of my own character and subsequent behavior with my tendency to enjoy new places and experiences. It is certainly an interesting thought worth
Finlay’s argument was not to bring new ideas to the table, but rather dismiss Menzies’ idea due to what he saw as flimsy evidence and a misleading writing style (Finlay 37).
I think He discussed the characteristics of each from worst to good in order to make his argument stronger as well as having a better conclusion.
I’ve been convinced through the last couple of units that we are the products of both nature and nurture. And when Pinker used twins to illustrate his points I was sold once and for all. If we think about the identical twins raised apart, who showed up in the same outfit, with the same mannerisms, it’s hard to argue that nature isn’t a part of who we are. How else would it be possible for two people, raised so completely differently, in entirely different parts of the world, in vastly different cultures, to end up similar in so many fundamental ways? And the example about the adopted siblings. If it were all about nurture it should prove out that adopted siblings who were raised in the same household, with the same parents, same values and traditions and mores, would turn out identically. But that’s not the case. In fact the opposite was true, adopted siblings raised exactly the same in the same house by the same parents turned out not to be similar in any way. There really can be no other explanation; we have to be the product of both nature and nurture. Both influence who we are, our sense of self, our
Steven Pinker lays the foundation for his book by highlighting three main philosophies that permeate society’s view of humanity and their historical context: The Blank Slate (empiricism), the Noble Savage (romanticism), and the Ghost in the Machine (dualism) (2002, p. 11). Pinker is correct to challenge previous philosophical frameworks as they skew the way scientific research has been conducted. Present-day scientific and social research will only benefit from an acknowledgement of innate human nature.
Pinker aims to suggest that inequality is a result of humans seeking to create difference within one another in order to justify acts of discrimination, oppression, and injustice. As the chapter progresses, Pinker attacks the notions of prejudices, eugenics, and social Darwinism separately. He also counters the argument that natural selection acts as a neutralizer to make species more standardized by “…winnowing out the ineffective genes (Pinker 142)”. He mentions Vincent Sarich’s idea on how race plays no role because we are all members of the same inbred family and any difference is simply fueled by biological
One of his strengths was the use of rhetorical devices to address his arguments, but the weakness of this was that he had flawed
... child, to be guinea pigs in a potentially fatal medical advancement. Although parents would like to think that altering their child is easy, and free-of-charge, the harsh reality is that no medical experiment, or procedure can be perfected. With this in mind, parents cannot choose to make their child extremely smart or blonde, without knowing the dangers ahead.
...rities and the same preferences. They also felt an immediate bond upon meeting. Jim Springer and Jim Lewis are twins who were separated four weeks after they were born in 1939, and they were reunited thirty-nine years later. The twins discovered that they had married and divorced women named Linda, married second wives named Betty, and named their first sons James Allan and James Alan, respectively. They both drove the same model of blue Chevrolet, and they both enjoyed the same hobby. They often vacationed on the same small beach in St. Petersburg, Florida, and owned dogs named Toy (Heredity 62). There have been many cases reported similar to this one, such as where twins were separated at birth and when reunited, found that they had astounding similarities between the two. By studying twins who were reared apart, scientists are learning how the forces of nature and nurture interact to make us what we are (Chensanow 69).
Speaker: Throughout the document the narrator differs; it shifts between a historian, Cotton Mather, and the numerous people who testified against Martha Carrier.
... has used informal fallacies such Ad Hominem and Appeal To Unauthorized Authority in an attempt to debunk the fallacies of others; he became guilty of fallacies himself. Likewise, one could say that it is inevitable to not partake in fallacies when there is a debate at hand. The key to debate is that oftentimes people can agree to disagree.