Tabula Rasa and Early Concept Formation

#PSYCHOLOGY #EVOLUTIONARYPSYCHOLOGY

[glennmartin]

Peter Schwartz has a great lecture on the problems of unthinkingly absorbing irrational ideas at a young age . . . and how hard they are to unwind and overcome, in his lecture "Barriers To Cognition."

[frankrockefeller]

Perceptions are spontaneous in the sense that a fleeting/remote impression/sensation can result in an important perception or even belief especially in the formative years of the mind. Man's volitional consciousness (Rand) is applying focus to our passive perceptions and establishes our interests and commitments. A romantic interest or work obligation gears up the mind into an active state of evaluation as we focus upon our perceptual 'conclusions'. 'Genetic inclinations' also as a 'spontaneous' guide to perception formation.

[RollingTree]

Excellent. Like the point re the lack of clarity provided by (current) psychology. Perhaps the most annoying "scientific" field in my (admittedly relatively uneducated) opinion.
One thing so compelling, (and rare!), about Rand/objectivism is the across the spectrum of life concerns.
To be fair ...psychology/the mind in general is/are extremely difficult realms to crack.
I like/find most compelling the calm/unemotional version of Yaron Brook, though that might be a contrarian, (and irrelevant), view. :)

[ExPwner]

The real problem with “tabula rasa” is that it doesn’t exist in the real world. There is no blank slate and there is no valid reason for trying to imagine one. Rational people reject material equality in favor of equal application of the law. You want murder to be outlawed to reduce the likelihood of being murdered, and since you do not want to be murdered you should not murder others. This is reciprocity. The same does not apply to Rawls’s notion of redistribution of wealth. I do not support taking from others and do not support them taking from me, and this is independent of my financial position in society. I wanted to not be robbed by the state when I was a broke college student and I don’t want to be robbed now that I retired early.