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If you loved
Books like The Blank Slate
A provocative, deeply analytical dive into the hardwired realities of human nature that challenges comfortable modern dogmas. These 12 books are the closest matches in mood, pace and themes, with what each one shares with The Blank Slate.
- intellectual
- provocative
- clarifying
- analytical
- 01
The Stuff of Thought
Steven Pinker
A witty, mind-expanding deep dive into the hidden cognitive machinery behind the words we use every day.
- 02
The Language Instinct
Steven Pinker
A witty, mind-expanding journey into the biological machinery that makes human communication possible.
- 03
You are Not So Smart
David Mcraney
A playful, humbling tour through the many ways your brain tricks you into thinking you're a rational human being.
- 04
The bell curve
Richard J. Herrnstein · 1994
A dense, highly controversial academic treatise that attempts to map the societal implications of cognitive stratification.
- 05
Just babies
Paul Bloom
A thought-provoking journey into the minds of infants that challenges everything we assume about the origins of human morality.
- 06
The secret of our success
Joseph Patrick Henrich
A paradigm-shifting exploration that dismantles the myth of the lone genius to reveal the true superpower of our species: our collective brain.
- 07
How we learn
Benedict Carey
A reassuring, science-backed permission slip to stop cramming and start letting your brain learn the way it actually wants to.
- 08
On human nature
Edward O. Wilson · 1978
A sweeping, intellectually provocative exploration that strips away human exceptionalism to reveal the biological machinery driving our culture, morals, and minds.
- 09
Social Intelligence
Daniel Goleman · 2006
An illuminating journey into the hidden neural pathways that make us fundamentally wired for human connection.
- 10
Breaking the spell
Daniel C. Dennett · 2004
A methodical, clear-eyed dissection of humanity's oldest and most fiercely protected cultural phenomenon.
- 11
The Bonobo and the Atheist
Henry Cabot Lodge (Jr.)
A warm, scientifically grounded exploration that finds the roots of human goodness not in the heavens, but in the earth and our primate cousins.
- 12
The Ape that Understood the Universe
Steve Stewart-Williams
An expansive, intellectually stimulating exploration of how a biological primate developed the capacity to ponder its own existence.
