I'm having a very difficult time coming up with a time that science has shaped my life. Science to me has just always been there. It was there through my 13 years in a private Catholic school in a small town and it remains with me at least. Contrary to popular belief the childhood I spent in the Catholic school did not alter my view of the world from a science rooted in facts to a religious belief based on faith. I suppose it could be construed that they tried to but my impressions could have been wrong, they often are. Sorry Robin the faculty at my school only had one nun, and one future nun for a short while when i was in sixth grade, but that is another whole story.
My family too was not altogether either scientific or religious, sure we went to Mass every weekend, or more likely as we felt we needed to go, which became every-other weekend. And yes my parents put a strain on grades but never straying either to the sciences or the arts. My personal explanation about how I grew connected in the force, I mean science (whoops to much Star Wars), stems from me plainly taking an interest on my own accord. For those of you wondering I didn't start becoming a BIG nerd until I got here and found some wonderful people. Of course it didn't help my interest when I would be repeatedly asking 'how' or 'why' do things work the way they do. Even if my parent did answer that one question more would stem from it. This is much of the nature of science.
What I am alluding to here is my opinion of blank slate solely as it applies to me. If the theory of the blank slate were true how did I come to be the person I am today? I am an individual that loves video games, science, computers, not religious in the least bit, and I have a bit of laziness in me. None of these factors were stressed in any point in my life and in the case of religion it was the opposite. But on the other hand I believe that my lack of a social life outside of school when I was younger (and if some psycho-analyst out there is going to give a completely different answer if they somehow come across this blog) led to me being impressionable now. With my random roommates my freshman year I picked up a few mannerisms and phrases. And now with my current group of friends I seem to be picking a few things up as well, we all do to some extent. This all leads me to be questionable about the blank slate theory.
I probably should have taken your lead and discussed briefly how the blank state plays a role in our perceptions of the world, specifically relating to religion and science. If you haven't read my post, I align with your thought that I took an interest in science on my own accord. That is, religion spiked my interest in seeking out science; it was not a teacher, class or anything else forced upon me as part of some sort of curriculum. Relating back to the blank slate theory, I am not necessarily sure that everyone is born with a completely blank bank of knowledge or instinct. However, I do feel like in our day and age the blank slate is most manipulated by either science or religion. By this I mean that science and religion guide so much of our lives that it is hard not to notice that, from as far as we can remember, it was in most cases religious teachings and scientific teachings in school that told us how the world works. In other words science and religion fill the most space on the blank slate, at least when it comes to explaining the world and how we all came to be who we are.
ReplyDeleteJustin called it the Easter Bunny; you call it the force. How are we going to get at this in a non-snarky way?
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