✗ The myth everyone repeats
The human mind begins as tabula rasa (blank slate), with all knowledge and personality acquired entirely through experience and sensory input, with no innate mental content or predispositions.
✓ What is actually true
Empiricist philosophers like Locke and later behaviorist psychologists championed the blank slate view, but it has been contradicted by modern neuroscience and developmental psychology. Infants are born with innate cognitive structures, preferences, and predispositions , sensitive periods for language acquisition, an understanding of physics, social instincts, and genetic influences on personality and ability. While environment profoundly shapes development, the mind is not a blank slate but rather has initial structure that guides learning.
Reception
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