Wednesday, September 8, 2010

There Exist Innate Ideas - Argued In 200-250 Words

Consider a block of marble with no veins, no imperfections. One could imagine that the shape and form of the statue of David exists within the block. However, it seems a stretch to claim David is an innate object within the block. But what if the marble had veins, curling in just the proper places such that a sculptor would likely chisel the shape of David?

The human mind is like a block of marble with veins. These veins develop according to an evolved genetic code, unique to each individual yet containing the vast survival-memory of every ancestor. When we perceive the world, it is like a sculptor chiseling away at our mind. The objects the sculptor constructs are our concepts and ideas.

Due to evolved 'veins' in our mind, some ideas are likely to form, especially when triggered by certain experiences. For instance, the perception of one object affecting another, along with other similar occurrences, leads one to develop the idea of causation. This idea is a survival tool for predicting future events. Another innate idea is found in folk psychology, wherein we believe injury causes pain.

The existence of innate ideas explains why we recognize such concepts so readily. If our mind were like a block of marble without veins, these concepts would not so quickly jump into their position of acceptance within our belief systems. But our minds are not blank slates--we are born with a set of innate ideas, tools of survival triggered by experience.

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