I believe that there is a quasi-religious theory of human nature prevalent among pundits and intellectuals... The theory has three parts: The Blank Slate—that we have no talent or temperaments because the mind is shaped completely by the environment (parenting, culture, and society). The second is the myth of the Noble Savage—that evil motives are not inherent in people but spring from corrupting social institutions. The third is the Ghost in the Machine—that the most important part of us is somehow independent of our biology, so that our ability to have experiences and make choices can't be explained by our physiological makeup and evolutionary history.
—Steven Pinker
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