If our genes dictate our actions, can we be held responsible for them?
Pinker identifies three primary dogmas that have dominated Western intellectual life for decades:
If we are born with "bad" traits, is social progress impossible?
The idea that the mind has no innate structure and is molded entirely by culture and experience.
If we aren't born equal, will that justify discrimination?
The notion that we have a soul or "will" that makes choices completely independent of biology. The Scientific Rebuttal
Pinker draws on evolutionary psychology, genetics, and neuroscience to argue that many aspects of our personality, intelligence, and social behavior are "hard-wired." He points to twin studies—which show that identical twins reared apart are remarkably similar—as evidence that genes play a significant role in shaping who we are. For Pinker, the brain is not a general-purpose sponge but a complex system of "mental modules" designed by natural selection to solve specific survival problems. The Fear of Human Nature