#10 in Psychology
The Blank Slate
- 528
- Pages
- about 10 h
- Reading time
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Our view
“The Blank Slate” is a forceful, readable case that human nature is shaped by evolution and not simply written by culture. Steven Pinker takes on three cherished ideas, the ghost in the machine, the noble savage and the blank slate, and shows why each of them misleads. Some readers say it changed how they see human behaviour, and the book does not avoid the touchier implications of its argument.
The view of the BookRank editors, written from readers’ ratings and comments. It does not affect the score or the book’s place in a ranking.
About the book
The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature is a 2002 book by cognitive psychologist Steven Pinker, in which he argues against tabula rasa models in the social sciences, claiming that human behaviour is significantly shaped by evolved psychological traits. The book was nominated for the 2003 Aventis Prizes and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.
Reading order · Language and Human Nature Tetralogy
Full order & progress →- The Language Instinct: The New Science of Language and MindStart hereThe Language Instinct: The New Science of Language and Mind–Not ranked yet
- How the Mind Works
8.08.0 / 10 - The Blank SlateThis book
8.18.1 / 10 - The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window into Human NatureThe Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window into Human Nature–Not ranked yet
Where the score comes from
The sources average 8.5 across 82 ratings — not yet many, so the reader vote carries 36% of the weight and the rest pulls toward the Psychology average of 7.9. That is how 8.1 comes out.
| Source | Average | Ratings | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open Library | 8.2 | 9 | 11% |
| Hardcover | 8.5 | 73 | 89% |
Frequently asked
How long is The Blank Slate?
It has 528 pages — longer than 83% of the ranked books in Psychology.
In this book
Themes this book shares with others — each leads to the best books on it.
If you liked this
Same shelf — Psychology — with scores between 7.9 and 8.2, closest to this book.
