Why do cats chase mice? Instinct. They don’t have to be taught to do it, they’re born knowing how to do it. Humans are animals, too, and as such we have instincts. We have brain “models” honed via eons of evolution, that inform parts of our personalities. Memories are important, too — very important — but they’re not the sum total.

The blank slate theory doesn’t make any sense, because who is writing on the slate? Parents don’t reach into their kids’ brains and wire up neurons. Parents give their children certain experiences, but within each child, there’s some sort of innate learning mechanism. Even if you don’t believe anything else is innate (which would be a pretty absurd belief, in light of what we know about the brain), you’d have to at least accept the the mind is not blank the way a piece of paper is blank. Paper can do nothing unless you write on it.

Or do you believe that, like this post, we’re all initially Untitled?

I’m pretty sure the concept is flawed. We human beings seem to be obsessed with certain things beyond societal influences. Pascal’s universal internal “infinite abyss” springs to mind as a prime example.