I've never argued that humans are massively hot-wired. What I was trying to point out was that you can't understand how we learn unless you identify the learning mechanisms. And these have some genetic basis.
Interpretation
Learning mechanisms are inherently linked to our genetic makeup.
Steven Pinker's quote emphasizes the importance of understanding the biological and genetic foundations of how humans learn. He suggests that, rather than assuming we are simply programmed to learn in specific ways, it is crucial to identify the mechanisms that drive learning, which are influenced by our genetic inheritance.
In practice
During a lecture on educational psychology, this quote could be used to highlight the biological aspects of learning.
The foundation of individual rights is the assumption that people have wants and needs and are authorities on what those wants and needs are. If people's stated desires were just some kind of erasable inscription or reprogrammable brainwashing, any atrocity could be justified.
The linguistic clumsiness of tourists and students might be the price we pay for the linguistic genius we displayed as babies, just as the decrepitude of age in the price we pay for the vigor of youth.
If we are not to abandon values such as peace and equality, or our commitments to science and truth, then we must pry these values away from claims about our psychological makeup that are vulnerable to being proven false.
We adults protect ourselves with laws, police, workplace regulations and social norms and there is no conceivable reason why children should be left more vulnerable, other that laziness or callousness in considering what life is like from their point of view.
The idea that children are passive repositories to be shaped by their parents has been massively overstated. A child's peer group is a far greater determinant of its development and achievements than parental aspiration.
Reason is non-negotiable. Try to argue against it, or to exclude it from some realm of knowledge, and you've already lost the argument, because you're using reason to make your case. ... We don't "believe" in reason.
I believe unconditionally in the ability of people to respond when they are told the truth. We need to be taught to study rather than believe, to inquire rather than to affirm.
There are more men ennobled by study than by nature.
I don’t think people realise how vital libraries are or what a colossal danger it would be if we were to lose any more. Having had a truncated school life myself, all of my education from the age of 17 has been self-taught. I wouldn’t be the person I am today if it wasn’t for the opportunities the library gave me.
Natural inclinations are assisted and reinforced by education, but they are hardly ever altered or overcome.
Many books that tell you how to achieve come from a privileged position. If you can't see yourself in the advice, how can you use it?
We are storytelling creatures, and as children we acquire language to tell those stories that we have inside us.
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