Blank Slateism

I'm not going to do a lick of research on this, just running off memory, so double check things if you really want.

I think it's fair to say Voltaire is still a household name, but I think most people have no idea why. My belief is that one of his claims to fame (as an otherwise general cheerleader for liberalism and the enlightenment) was the idea of children as blank slates. Think of this as a transition from the medieval idea of rights of kings, and a class system where poor serfs would never amount to anything, all the way up to romanticism where Victor Hugo is showing us the ability for Jean Valjean to reform himself. Everyone is capable of great things, if the write things are written on them growing up (there's a few different thoughts in there, but I think you get the idea).

The physical book I was reading this week was Anne of Avonlea, the second book in the Anne of Green Gables series. I'm not that far in yet, but one thing does stand out. It's interesting to see people willing to proclaim in public arguments so strongly against the blank state thesis: Red haired people have a temper, Frenchmen can't be trusted, all members of this family are sure to turn out wrong. Now to some extent an author can write whatever they want into a book, but I think it's fair to say we shy away from such statements these days.

There's mostly no argument here, just an observation. It's a problem I find with The Lord of the Rings as well. I love the book, but your ability to do good is certainly predicated on your bloodline. I think it's a very good thing that we've progressed away from this, the only contentious point being that it could be taken too far. While this is hardly a problem afflicting most people, you'll certainly find folks on the extremes (and in the media) making it clear that NO personal characteristic can have ANY effect on a person (and any differences must be because of how society treats them).

Just a thought for today.