- What was your position on this question before watching the video?
- Did the research discussed in the video change your opinion in any way?
- Are we born "wired" to be selfish or "wired" to seek justice and have empathy for others (or a little bit of both)?
- Are nurture and environment the deciding factors that help us develop either our selfish or empathetic and altruistic tendencies?
- Do you think that this research was scientifically sound?
- Do you agree with their conclusions?
Monday, October 12, 2015
Are We All Born Good?
What is the true nature of humankind? Are we a blank slate (tabula rasa) at birth? Do we have to be socialized to learn what is "right" and "wrong" according to our society or do we have this innate ability programmed into us from the moment we are born? This is a classic debate among observers of the human condition. Great thinkers have offered their views on this essential question throughout recorded history. But what have we learned? Are we any closer to an answer regarding human nature? Can an individual be "born good" or "born bad" or is everything learned through our environment? What could we possibly learn about this from studying infants? Could modern science finally give us a definitive answer? Watch this 60 Minutes report on current research into this question that has been recently conducted in Yale's baby lab. Respond in a comment of at least 300 words that addresses the following:
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Before I watched the video I thought that people aren't born knowing exactly what right and wrong means, but they do have a sense or feeling of what it is. The research in the video changed my opinion slightly. It showed a few young children that choose the puppet that was closest to them and thought the the other puppet, who was different, should be punished. As much as I don't want it to be true: I think that we are all born feeling right and wrong, but have tendencies to be bias or mean. We are born wired to seek justice, but also wired to be slightly selfish. The younger kids picked a prize just for themselves even though it meant that the other kid didn't get any prizes. That's selfish. When the children were shown a puppet show with a bad character and a good one the majority favored the good one. Humans are born with these few basic things, but the main factor in deciding who they are is nuture and their environment. If you are raised and taught to be a good person, then that bad side that you were born with won't come out as much or as often. If you are raised in a bad environment then those bad qualities will show more than the the good ones. It also depends on your society. If society says that African Americans are bad, then you will think that. If society believes that shooting up schools is the right thing to do, then you will think that is the right thing to do. This research was not scientifically sound even if the majority of the babies choose the good puppet. It is not scientifically sound because the children they used arnt infants. They could have seen or experienced things and all the people they used are different. What if being born good is dependent upon the person? I do agree with the conclusions that the scientists came up with.
ReplyDeletePrior to watching the video about babies knowing right from wrong at birth, my opinion was that newborn babies were fairly neutral and would not yet be encultured or educated on good and evil, due to their mind not being able to fully comprehend the full complexity of right and wrong or good and evil that society puts on them. The video altered my opinion in the aspect that babies do have a better understanding of their surroundings and what right and wrong actually mean to our society, and that they can tell the difference between the two. I found it interesting that babies tested, majority of them wanted to help the stuffed animals in need until they found out that they were different from themselves. This seemed to show that babies were born rather empathetic, up until the point where it involved themselves in the equation, where they then chose any stuffed animal that was similar to them in any aspect, or if looking at just young children; chose to give themselves the bigger amount of coins rather than the other child. I do still think that nurture and our environment have major effects on our altruistic tendencies though because each as I’ve grown up I know I personally have changed or matured in the aspect that I am less selfish and tend to think about others before myself in certain scenarios. Plus, in the experiment, the older children were more likely to give away tokens to others even if they did not receive as many as the other. Although, I do think that it was most definitely possible to read into their conclusions, I agree with them because we have not yet discovered any better way of testing babies that young, and getting any better set of data. Therefore, I am willing to trust and at least further explore what Yale researchers have been discovering in the baby lab.
ReplyDeleteBefore watching the video I thought that when you are first born you have certain instincts with whether we are good or bad. For instance, we aren’t entirely good or bad, we only know what we can choose from. As I started the watch the video I noticed they used 5 month old babies and younger to test out the stuffed animal pet show. The majority chose the good stuff animal than the bad stuffed animal. I think maybe that was all because the action of that pet show seemed to stand out more than the bad one. If you scare a baby or talk too loud they are gonna’ cry because it is usually too much from them to handle. It goes by so fast for them. In my opinion if they don’t like something that a stuff animal did, they might not pick it because it may make them feel scared of it. So, they would go straight to the other one (If that makes sense). Now, going back to the “Blank Slate” I said that once you are born, you haven’t experienced much unless you’ve been living for more than a few months. Now, these people used more than 5 month old babies and a question comes to mind as I think. Haven’t these babies already experienced things with their parents and from just watching what going on around them? Wouldn’t they already know a sense of what is going on while being tested for the puppet show? I think that this is probably a very hard thing to really figure out because like the video said at the beginning, babies can’t do things like 12 year old can do and adults. They don’t have control over what they WANT to do. At that point babies can’t talk, so they just watch. It’s all in the matter of what people think and experiment as we still figure out if we are good or bad born.
ReplyDeleteBefore watching the research video on the topic of being born a blank slate, I thought that we are born a blank slate. We comprehend and adapt to our environment by what is shown to us and taught to us, even at a very young age. We still can watch and adjust to situations. Of course babies will see good and bad actions, seeing negative or positive reactions to things will develop in their minds. But at birth, you can’t decipher between good or bad for a baby. The research in the video did show that we are born to have a slight bit of justice lying behind our actions. A sense of which wanting to see a bad influence get punished. Even though in my very honest opinion I think testing just a toy a baby likes doesn’t absolutely prove anything. The good toy was usually the last shown so they could remember it by being the last one to be seen. Or the researcher when showing the two toys shook the one they picked a little more rapidly, which I thought I saw multiple times. In a way we seek justice more than selfishness because as shown more babies chose the “good” toy. They can’t speak or quite understand the actions of the puppets but they still proved in study that they were more likely to pick the better behaved toy. Being born with our selfish needs to live, don’t reflect on the natural selection to have empathy and help the good aspects of situations. But everything that children grow up on is the influences by their parents. The environment and nature of their parents gives them ideas on what is good and what is bad. As you get older you learn and see the differences more. Not by nature, but how an individual will adapt and take on what is taught. Using prizes with older kids that won’t have quite of the sense yet will of course pick more for them self. I can’t completely coincide with their research because there was other actions they could have taken with older kids that would go along with their younger findings. The science they did was mixed up and not quite one overall answer. Doing the same testing all around with natural sense and what is learned as you get older would better support the experiment.
ReplyDeleteBefore watching this video on babies’ knowledge on right or wrong, I’d have to say that I wasn’t quite sure what I believed. I think what I most agreed with was that we’re all born neutral and we learn from our parents how to act and to treat others. Now, after gaining further knowledge from the performance of the experiment, my opinion has changed. I think as babies we are born wired with the innate decision to act right or wrong, as defined by our society. At the beginning of the video, the research showed that most babies like the helpful puppet compared to the mean one. As it progressed, the research began to show more intricate discoveries about how we, as humans, agree with justice and seem to like others that have similar interests as us. Based on the results of this research, I’d have to agree that we are born with a sense of right or wrong. But, these weren’t infants; the ages ranged from 3-5 month olds. In that time period, starting from when they were born, the subjects could have experienced many things that suggested what is right and wrong in our society. So, I think that nurture and and environment are the deciding factors that help us develop our tendencies, whether they be selfish or empathetic. And, although this study isn’t necessarily sound because of the unknown amount of knowledge learned during that 3-5 month time period, it’s still the only definite result we know about the nature we have as newborn human beings. All in all, I agree with the scientists’ conclusion because it was the best possible way to retrieve such information as this. In my opinion, it’s a very interesting study and it seems to be pretty conclusive in our determination of right and wrong in today’s society.
ReplyDeleteBefore watching the 60 min report about how babies are born as a blank slates or not, i believed that newborn babies were not born with any sense of good or bad, solely based on the fact that they have had no live experience to even consider what can be good or bad. However the babies tested on were about 5 months old so by that time, were they around good or bad behavior? I dont think it could even work on a newborn baby because they barely know what they want but as they get a little older they end up being able to know right from wrong. I believe that we are supposed to have all the emotions that any normal adult would have but we don't know how to react to them, until we are taught to. When you reward a baby emotionally then they expect that every time they do what thing they did to get that positive reaction they will do again. If you reward bad behavior and make it seem like they are supposed to do that, they will do it because they think they should. Babies are not had wired with an knowledge but to get what they want, weather its being a good way or a bad way it does not matter to them because they don't know the difference. I think we are wired to be neutral but we have other emotions also wired into us to make us choose one thing over another almost like a scale with more on one side then the other.
ReplyDeleteOur own thoughts are the deciding factor as to whether we are selfish or not. if a child grows up not to share ever and sees that others are sharing they may think of themselves as abnormal causing them to feel different and the only way to shake that feeling is to share like all the rest. So what we do is mainly to benefit us in some way or form. That makes us selfish always but not selfish at the same time. I don't think there was a solid amount of evidence about how we are born selfish or not because they were testing it on 5 month olds and not newborns. so the study does not apply to a blank slate but to one already being carved. Their conclusion is inapplicable to the blank slate theory.
Before watching the video, I thought that babies were born pretty much in the middle of knowing “right” from “wrong.” By seeing the babies react differently towards the different dogs, made me realize that babies understand more than I had originally thought. The researchers in the video definitely changed my mind because I now know that even young babies know what's going on around them. They even know what they want or prefer. I think that we are “wired” both selfish and seeking justice. I think this because in the video, first the babies picked the dog that helped open the box and did the right thing, and then when the bad dog was struggling with the box, the babies picked the dog who slammed it shut and didn't help open it. I think that babies have an understanding of right and wrong, but they just can't verbally express anything to us until they get older. I do believe that our environment has an impact on our “good” or “bad” self. How the people around you act towards different things, is going to affect the way you do. Everyone says that every parent parents differently, and just by that, you can tell the difference between a child that lives in a household where they are taught “good,” or manners, and then the other children that our brought up with not so many manners. I also think as you watch your parents and family members, you develop the same kind of ways of going about things. I agree with their conclusion at the end, and they constructed it very well. I do think that babies and children's environment have a great factor on how the child behaves later on. I found this video intriguing and I learned a few things that I didn't know about babies.
ReplyDeleteBefore watching the video I didn't think that babies knew the difference between right and wrong at all. After watching it, I decided that because babies don't really know what's going on, they can't decide whether something really is good or bad. I think they take interest to a preferred character, maybe because the shirt stands out more, or because the action of the puppet isn't as harsh as the other's. For example: The dog in the blue shirt jumped on the lid and slammed it down, resulting in a loud bang. Not a lot of babies like loud bangs as far as I'm concerned. So, the baby would gravitate towards the more peaceful one. As for the cat and the cereal, it's quite obvious that a grey cat doesn't compare to a bright orange cat. Grey is a drab color, orange is warm and exciting. We gravitate towards things that catch our interest. I definitely think that we are selfish at birth and that being courteous and moral is something we learn over time. The way we are brought up can reflect how we act later in life.
ReplyDeleteBefore I watched this video, I was incredibly biased to my opinion, that the blank slate theory is completely false. However I only believed that they were born with the essentials such as breathing, eating, sleeping, and more. I felt as if that babies didn’t have an understanding of what it is, however just did it anyway (ex. waking up in the middle of the night and crying) because it’s human nature. The research they did provided me with more information on what babies think, and that even though I knew something was up there, there’s a lot more than what I had imagined. I think that humans are both selfish and justice saving. Most of the time in real near death situations, we choose flight over fight. Also in that experiment, babies chose the stuffed animal that chose their favorite snack. That shows extreme selfishness to ourselves. However there are those “hero” situations where people go into the line of fire just to save someone. After all, we have jobs in which you could do that everyday like firefighters, the police, and the military. After watching this video, I think that we are born with all the same qualities, which are then altered by our upbringing. Our personalities reflect on what we see our parents do, or maybe if the parents aren’t there as much as they should be. This research was sound since they didn’t do anything that hurt the babies or left them emotionally scarred. I also agree with their research, though I would like to know what kinds of babies they chose for the experiment, and if replicated they should pick babies based on family income. I’m not trying to sound more offensive, but I want to see the experiment done with babies in poor situations, and if their upbringing will affect their choices. Maybe it will change the outcomes of the experiment.
ReplyDeleteMy thinking before watching this video was that babies were born with a blank mind or “blank slate.” After watching this video, I have a slightly different point of view on babies minds. A common thing that comes up is how do babies know right from wrong? Well I still believe that babies don’t know what is right, and what is wrong. Society puts the definition to what's right and wrong and something babies I don’t believe can comprehend yet. I think that just supports the claim and shows that babies are born one way or the other, “good” or “bad”. Of course though, babies don’t know what they are doing is either wrong or right, they are making the choice of either the good teddy bear or bad, without labeling it and thinking “Oh, this is the good teddy bear so i’m picking this one.” The babies just choose without really realizing why they are choosing this teddy bear. Which again shows supports that it’s already hardwired into their brains. This video changed my point of view on babies brains when that young. At first, I believed that babies were born with nothing on their mind, then learned everything through their family and society. Now, I believe that babies are born with something already wired into their brains without them realizing it. I do still believe that kids, as shown later in the video, do learn from society and family other life values and will learn what’s “right” and “wrong”. I think we are born with a little bit of both wired into our heads. It is possible though one will show more than the other depending on how we were raised, taught, and what kids learn throughout their childhood. I believe that nurture and the environment are the deciding factors on whether we are selfish or empathetic. We might be born one way or the other or even with both, but over time when kids grow and understand more they will learn from from who they look up to and the society that surrounds them and one trait will stick out more than the other and it will show. As of right now, I don’t see any reasons to believe any ways that this research was not strong and evident. I do agree with their conclusions for the most part and I believe their research was solid and strong all the way around.
ReplyDeletePrior to watching this video I didn’t believe babies were born “blank slates” but that they are relatively neutral when it came to right and wrong. After watching the video I am not completely sold on the conclusion that the experiment drew. Having two of the same teddybears only able to be identified by the color of their shirts is not only testing what they think is good vs. bad but also their memory. There are many variables that have to taken into conclusion with an experiment like this because you truly don’t know why they are picking the one over the other because they can not speak their reasons for picking the one they did. Just because they seem to be picking the right one doesn’t mean they are picking it for the right reason. In the second experiment they are testing to see if babies are born with a bias. It seems from the researchers conclusion that they believe that babies are bias and want those who are not like them to be punished. But being bias and punish someone or something just because they are different is something that is not good but bad. In the final study the researchers test the selfishness of young children then children a couple years older and prove that younger children are more selfish than older ones. Now this would prove that if babies are born with the knowledge of right and wrong but it’s not the same right and wrong that most people live by, they would have to lean to not be selfish.
ReplyDeleteBefore watching the video on the baby lab, I thought that all humans were born blank, and they had to be taught whether something was good or bad. I didn’t think that there was any way a baby could no the difference between right and wrong. People have different morals and values and a lot of that is taught by the baby’s parents. But this baby lab video definitely changed my view on the whole thing. The fact that the babies, as young as 3 months, could choose which puppet did a good thing blows my mind. Another thing that really shocked me was the babies wanting the puppet that chose the different snack to be punished. At that age they already had an idea that someone who is different should be treated differently. After watching that video I honestly believe that humans are born a little selfish. I think that society expects people to have certain values so those are passed down by the parents’. When you think about it, we have to teach little kids to share and that giving to others is a good thing. I think without someone there to teach them that, humans wouldn’t be as kind and generous. I think that they way they conducted to research made it so that the results were fairly accurate. I think they thought of all of the factors that could have influenced a baby’s decision. And now, after watching the video, I do agree with their conclusions.
ReplyDeleteBefore watching this video, I had a neutral opinion towards the blank slate theory. I believed that we were born with innate characteristics that were key to our survival, such as breathing and eating, but our more complex characteristics were learned through nurture. I also didn’t think infants had the ability to determine right from wrong. After watching this video, my opinion has changed slightly. It was interesting to see babies choose the puppet that was friendly and similar to them, but want the one that was different than them to be punished. It was also interesting to see young children choose the blocks that would give them more coins than the person who would come in after them. These tests show that we are selfish at a young age, yet also desire to seek justice for those treated unequally. While the research shows that we can determine right from wrong as an infant, I believe whether we choose to act selfish or empathetic later in life is established through nurture. A child raised to be empathetic will still be selfish on the inside, but will have the ability to control those feelings. We have aquired a lot of knowledge about what goes on in a young child’s mind, but I don’t think the research was scientifically sound towards the theory that we are born knowing right from wrong. The babies used for the research were between the ages of three and five months old, which is enough time for them to begin learning good from bad thorough the actions of those around them. Overall, I agree with the conclusions of this research. Though the research is not scientifically sound, it has still taught us more about the minds of infants than we knew before and is the most solid evidence we have to support that we are not born as blank slates.
ReplyDeleteAt first before the video, I guess I was torn between nature or nurture. I thought that some characteristics were innate while others were learned. However, I think that the research conducted in this video has convinced me that we are born with all the senses or morality that boil down to survival, which would make total sense considering that we weren’t always an organized world. I think that we are hardwired for moralities of justice, good and bad, and selfishness. These things all link back to our ancestors who needed those things in order to survive in the wild. I found it very interesting though that the older we got as humans, the more we were able to suppress those thoughts and focus on what others needed. We started to think less of ourselves because we had been conformed to a society with morals to help other people, or the exact opposite. I know personally, that I was raised in a positive environment where things like justice and good and bad were strongly taught. Others may have been exposed to the more selfish side, making them more likely to grow up different and hostile to other people. But is it wrong to shun those people just because they were encouraged to do something out of the norm? I can’t exactly say, but I would hope the answer would be no. The research to me seemed sort of sound since I’m not sure how many other labs have gotten the same results to back up Yale’s. I do however agree with the conclusions. It makes total sense to me that we, as infants, would have these moralities etched into our mind as a means for survival.
ReplyDeleteMy initial thought to the questions was yes, but to a certain extent. I believed that people had a basic understanding of right and wrong but not to the extent that was proven in the video. The research definitely changed my opinion. It seems that the research was able to tell us that not only do babies know right from wrong but they can identify the right and wrong that we teach in society. I would say that they proved that humans are wired to be selfish and want justice. That was proven in the experiment. The babies wanted the puppet that demonstrated revenge but the babies also chose the puppets with similar interests like the cereal, thus being selfish. I would say that nurture still is a big part of teaching a kid of what is right and what is wrong but we now know that most kids are born with a basic instinct of this concept. Was this research scientifically sound? I would have to say no. Although their efforts to communicate thoughts out of a baby did seem highly effective, they still can’t know for sure what they are thinking. They are still babies and the data could have confounding variables. However, I thought that their method was the best way to conduct this type of research that I have seen. I would have to say that I agree with their conclusions. I watched the test in progress and it seemed pretty clear that the babies were choosing characters based on their actions. This was a very interesting experiment and was exciting to watch. I wouldn’t have been able to come up with this type of experiment. Their methods seem clear and attractive to the infants they were dealing with. I enjoyed the experiment and the results.
ReplyDeleteI believed, before I watched the video, that we are all born neutral. When we are first born we don’t know the difference between good and bad, so how would we be good or bad. When I think of being good or bad I think of the different actions people take part in that are categorized as good or bad actions. As a young infant you don’t do much besides eat and sleep, how could you do something bad? According to the “60 minutes” video, understanding what is right and wrong is with us from birth. The babies chose the puppets that were nice, the puppets that gave punishment to the mean puppets, or the ones that like similar thing sthat they did. The babies showed some bias’. The age of the babies tested shows that it must be nature. They would have had to learn a lot in the short time that they have been alive to know the differences between being good or bad. I think we a “wired” with both selfishness and justice and empathy for others. Some of the things we do are selfish and other things are selfless. We need a little bit of both to survive in this world. I think that the research they did was very good and had a lot of scientific backing. I am still not sure what I want to believe yet though. I am stuck in the middle because it is hard to believe that we are just born with the ability to know right from wrong, but the research that this group had showed me that maybe it is possible. I hope that scientists will find the true answer out soon so that I can know how it really works.
ReplyDeleteI felt like we were born with knowing what is right from wrong when we are born even before I watched the video. After the video I still agree with I thought all along and what they had to say. That the babies do know right from wrong at a young age and that they know when people need justice. I think it is "wired" into our head to that we know when someone needs justice. But then again we know right from wrong for only certain things not from all things. Like we don't know it's wrong to not share or to wake our parent up at night,but we do know it's not right to hit,steal,bite etc. I believe our community shows how we are going to turn out. They do a big part in our lives and shaping us. They teach you right from wrong when your parents can't and you don't know what is right or wrong. Like teachers,police officers, and law enforcement they all help teach you right from wrong. I feel like their conclusions and data is as sound as they can get with a baby that young. Until they have a better experiment to test the same theory on a child that small go with they have. Start there and as a better working experiment comes along go to that. Start with what they got then improve it. Their conclusions are as sound as you can get until another experiment, a better working one, comes along to prove their work on the first set of experiments or disprove them.
ReplyDeleteBefore watching the video about babies knowing right from wrong at birth, my opinion was that newborn babies were basically neutral and wouldn't yet know the difference between good and evil. The way adults think of good and wrong, newborn babies can't fully comprehend that. I believe you are born with certain instincts, and that’s all. The video altered my opinion in the aspect that babies do have a better understanding of their surroundings and what are right and wrong. Watching the video, I found it interesting that the babies picked the animal that picked the same thing as them. In children so young, that is something I wouldn't think of happening. I would have guessed the color of the animal or characteristics would influence their decision. The babies would be shown a puppet show, and in the end feel empathy for the stuffed animal in need. I found it interesting that the babies wanted to help the stuffed animals in need until they, themselves were involved. This shows that babies are born empathetic to a point. This can also relate to the children giving themselves more coins, and as they grow older they start wanting the equal amount, and eventually giving the other more. I do think that nurture and our environment have effects on being selfish or empathetic and altruistic tendencies. Not just from personal experience but also from others. As you grow up you become more concerned for others and less for yourself. In the end, I do agree with most of the research. I think Yale may have looked into the baby study a little too much. They could have taken into consideration the babies picked the stuffed animals because of the color, or size. But in the end I do agree with the research, and it is the only way we’ve been able to study this.
ReplyDeletePrior to watching this experiment, I originally thought that humans were born with a few instinctive behaviors. So the “Baby Lab Experiment” at Yale definitely opened my eyes to different possibilities; that babies were not only born with a sense of morality, but they have biases as well. But how do you do a experiment on babies who can't talk? I wondered the same thing before I watched the video and was exposed to the experiment’s methods. The experiment itself was completely harmless to the 5 month year old babies participating, because it used puppets. The puppets would act out kind behaviors and not so kind behaviors the child would then pick which puppet (The good or the bad one) they liked or disliked. The research shows that the babies would like the good puppet and want the bad puppet to be punished. This remains true until the child has something in common with the puppet, then they want to punish the puppet that is different. This research completely changed my original thoughts of babies. I initially thought that we learned the principles of right and wrong, as well as biases from whoever raises us. Now that I am exposed to this information, my opinion has changed. Not only did the researchers do an experiment on babies, they experimented on young children as well. These experiments focused on selfishness. The ending results of these experiments concluded that the younger the children are, the more selfish they are. This is probably because they are influenced by their environment and society as they grow up. I have had experience of this, because I was mostly focused on what I wanted more than what other people wanted as a child. I was a selfish kid. Now, I go out of my way to help people, because my parents and environment taught me to do so. So I do think that in a way we are born selfish and we can feel empathy or want to seek justice toward others; because my initial thoughts and experiences, and the experiment’s results. This research seems to be scientifically sound and morally right, since the babies were not harmed in any way. But I do think that they could have used younger babies perhaps, because the babies may have been changed slightly due to their environment. They concluded that babies know the difference between right and wrong, we are born with the emotion of empathy, we are also born with the want for justice, and children are selfish and born to hate. Most of their conclusions are true from my point of view, except for the point that states that we are born with morals and hatred. I still believe that not all children completely know what is right and what is wrong. This is because I have experienced instances of this from my little cousin. He blurts out whatever comes to his mind, even if it is mean; he even acts rudely sometimes. I still believe that not all children are born to hate as well. The video showed convincing evidence to contradict my beliefs, but I still believe that every baby is not born with hatred. Sure, children dislike things and people, but that does not mean that they hate them. Hate is something that slowly boils within a person over time; and it is mostly learned from people and experiences.
ReplyDeleteAre we born good? From what i watched, now i think we are born with a sense of what's good and revenge. The children picked the puppet that did bad things to the one who did bad things in the first place. At first i didn't think so but after the study that was performed i think we are born good. Well at least with a little bit of good in us. I feel this way because The babies picked the puppets who did the good deed. But they also picked the puppets who did bad things to puppets who did the other bad things. So we are born with a sense of good and bad. But also a sense of revenge, but our parents teach us that no matter what people do you have to be nice and civil, because that's the nice thing to do. But i honestly thought that you weren’t born with the ability to be good. i thought our parents taught us that, because you have those kids who are just rude and have no respect for anyone and you have other kids who are as nice as can be. I’m at a toss up of what to think because if those children chose what was right and wrong then obviously there's a sense there. But obviously there's no way to tell if we are born good or not.
ReplyDeleteWhen I think of the idea of being born good or bad, I immediately think of the blank slate. To me, the two ideas are very similar, and so aren’t my opinions on both. Before watching the research video, I thought that babies were born maybe in the middle of the two, with some innate knowledge of each. Then afterwards I realized I may be wrong, as I watched the babies decide between the two with the dogs. But even after seeing that experiment, I still think that we aren’t born as being good or bad, but with some of both. I think our experiences make us one way or another, but we are still born with some idea of the two. I don’t think that we are born “wired” to be selfish exactly, or that we are born to be empathetic. I think we are born with that instinct to survive, and as we grow older and go through different experiences, we learn exactly what it is that we need and what we can share. Babies and young children don’t like to share at a young age, but they learn that they have to share some things. I think they have some idea of empathy and justice, but not too much, or else some kids wouldn’t be throwing their tonka trucks at others not knowing it hurts them too. They learn about these things and refine them through their experiences, which is my theory on the blank slate as well. We are born with the basic building blocks of life, but as we grow older we learn through experiences. Nurture and environment both definitely have impacts on empathetic, selfish, and other altruistic tendencies. I don’t think this experiment was exactly sound, but I don’t think it could be both ethical and sound. Not all of these young children went through the same experiences up to this point, and you can’t ethically make all of these children the same kid. Their conclusion for the results of this experiment are right, and they prove as much as we can ethically. But the question for me is, what about a truly blank slate? Is there really any way we could test this on an actual blank slate? We still don’t know if we are born with this knowledge of good or bad at birth.
ReplyDeleteBefore I watched the video, I presumably assumed babies were able to create their own persona. By watching and learning what is wrong and what is right, they could learn to distinguish right from wrong. That people are inherently good or evil as soon as they are born, being that a newborn’s mind isn’t fully developed. I don’t think a newborn child will come straight out of the womb and start putting its plan to take over the world into action. I believe that we as humans form our knowing of right and wrong from observing what is around us and the society and culture that we live in. After seeing this video, I know thing that babies have a better understanding of their surroundings than we think they do. I found it interesting how when the babies were tested, in fact wanted to help the stuffed animals, that is until they realized that the stuffed toys were different from the babies. This to me shows that babies are born with and can feel empathy and have a slight sense of right and wrong. Although, I do not feel that testing a child with a toy that it likes proves much. If a child likes something, of course it’s going to try and save it. If you like a car, you buy it and try not to damage it. Let alone, the age range of children that were used were between 3-5 months. There have been several months between birth and the experiment where the child could have began to be taught right from wrong and have started to create their own sense of person. I still believe that our environment has a lot to do with how we distinguish right from wrong. Society also has a lot to do with the choices we make. I do not believe that people are born evil or good, but neutral with the ability to form our future and who we decide to become.
ReplyDeleteBefore I watched the video, I thought that babies didn’t know much of anything between “good” or “bad”. This video changed my opinion because the babies had several experiments done to them. The one that surprised me the most was the puppet experiment. It was interesting to see the babies choose the puppets that were similar to them, but wanted the different one to be punished. This changed my opinion because I now think that we are born selfish. The babies care about the puppet did the right thing for them, but since the other puppet didn’t fulfill their needs they are upset with the puppet. I think we are born to be “wired” selfish and to seek empathy for others. In this experiment, the baby was showing both. The baby was being selfish because it got what it wanted, but was being empathetic towards the puppet that gave them the right treat. I think this research was okay because it wasn’t doing harm to anyone. I do agree with the conclusions.
ReplyDeleteBefore I watched this video I believed that humans were born with no instinct between right and wrong. I thought that because it is a moral and often times an opinion. The research and the results of the baby lab tests have changed my mind about whether we are born with an innate sense of right or wrong. I agree with the results of the test. There was an overwhelming majority in each moral choice that showed that the babies saw kind actions as better than unkind ones. I believe we are born just and selfish. The babies wanted to see bad things happen to the unkind puppet. They were also selfishly wanting the puppets who were different from them to be punished. I believe this research was scientifically sound if replicated enough times. If this experiment was done enough times with the large majority of opinions being the same then I believe it was scientifically sound. I believe that as we grow older our morals are affected by nurturing and our environment. I agree with the conclusions drawn from this experiment.
ReplyDeleteBefore Watching the video, I believe that we are all born good. In my eyes people are good until they do something bad. I always trust people until they give me a reason not to. But that doesn't make them a bad person, they are good people that did a bad thing. How can a person be born “bad”? When we are born into the world, we are innocent babies. We have not experienced anything except for moments with our families. We are surrounded by love and care. People won't do bad things unless they have experienced it or were provoked. So how could we be born bad? Most people are lucky enough to be surrounded by loved ones and have an exciting childhood. Bad things happen once a person is pushed over the edge. After watching the video I still feel the same about this topic, but now it seems as if there is much more going on in the mind of a baby. It’s not calling a person good or bad. Each person is unique, and with that comes favoritism/bias. A study like that could never be 100% positive of the outcome, because the results will vary. I still feel that we are born good.
ReplyDeleteI don’t think we are born good, I don’t really think we are born with anything until we start observing on what is happening around us. In the video the babies are observing what is happening with puppets, and they favor the one they like when they do something good, or like something like the babies do. About 81% of the babies were pretty consistent about this. I believe in the same thing. If the babies are around all good things than their character is going to revolve around that. The same thing for bad things. If it’s all bad things they are around than they are most likely going to misbehave and make poor choices. The video I thought was pretty accurate on the older kids. When the toddlers are given the choice to take something for them and leave something to another they would rather take it all. They tend to be very selfish. As they get older though they tend to care for the others and give them everything and leave nothing for themselves. I think it’s because they are more educated and they know that there are kids out there that have rough lives, and that’s their way to show that they are born good. I bet you a kid that was around around bad things would do the complete opposite. Especially if the kid was super spoiled. They would want it all for themselves, and wouldn’t care about anyone else. It wouldn’t matter what age they would be. It would all start at when they were a baby. It’s the same way when you raise a puppy. If you treat it poorly than the dog is going to be pretty mean. It’s just the way things are. I definitely think it’s all about who we are around and what we are around to make us good today.
ReplyDeleteI believe that we as human beings are born without knowing right from wrong. I believe that we are completely unaware of right from wrong. As we get older and learn what society is like we turn into a different person. In the video it shows that the babies chose the kind stuffed animal 80% of the time over the misbehaved stuffed animal. This shows that the babies may have an understanding of the difference between right and wrong. I truly believe that society teaches what is right and wrong within the world we live in. We’re told what not to wear and what not to do in certain situations. We are taught how to act in a professional surrounding. As humans I think we choose the things that make us feel good inside. In the video I think the babies chose the things that make them have positive emotions over negative emotions. We sometimes choose the wrong thing to do in certain situations. Sometimes people’s humor can be very insulting to others. People can insult a race or religion in their jokes without acknowledging how the person they’re insulting may feel. We as humans learn to be more generous as we grow, shows the video. We aren’t as selfish as we were when we were new to the world. That supports the way of society shaping who we are and how we act in public and maybe even alone. When the reporters studied the choices made in the video it shows how the younger children wanted more to themselves then to the opponent but as they studied the older children it showed that they wanted to give more to the opponent rather to themselves.
ReplyDeleteBefore watching the video, I thought that babies were born with only knowing their natural needs. Natural needs as in food, water and anything that could help them survive. I believe that we did not know what was right in society when we are first born and that we develop the knowing of right and wrong by watching people in our society. By watching everyone act how they are they become what they are raised around. I think if you took a kid and raised him/her in an environment where everyone was mean and nasty, then the baby would grow up and be cruel and nasty. For example, kids raised in the ghetto around crime and gangs and all that have a higher chance in getting into gangs and other illegal activities.
ReplyDeleteI believed.. Before I watched the video, that we are all born neutral and don't know the difference between right and wrong. When we are first born we don’t know the difference between good and bad, so how would we be good or bad. When I think of being good or bad I think of the different things people do to put them in a good or bad categorize. The babies were watching puppets that would act out kind behaviors and unkind behaviors the child would then pick which puppet they liked or disliked proving that we do know right from wrong. But just because a baby picks the unkind puppet doesn't mean that they're going to be bad all their life. People even 40 yeas old make a mistake, you learn from them.
ReplyDeleteBefore I had watched the video, I thought that all people were born neutral. In my head I had believed that all babies and kids were taught by their friends and family what was good and what was bad. I thought that were all born neutral because no one can really define what is good and what is bad and everyone has different opinions on good and bad. In the video, in the first experiment it had showed that babies did prefer the good puppet over the bad puppet. This shows that babies can have good intentions. In the second experiment that they showed in the video, the babies were only good towards the puppet liked the same food as them. That shows that they can be bad towards things or people that don’t have the same interest as they do. In the other half of the video it showed different ages of kids deciding what amount of coins that they and another kid would have. The first group of kids were about 5-6 years old, they were more selfish and they wanted all the coins and gave the other kid no coins. In the second group they were about 8 years old and they gave the same amount to the other kid and they kept for themselves. The last group of kids were between 12-13 years old and they were willing to give the other kid coins even if it was more than what they had. This can show that some kids are more mature as they get older but the younger that they are the are not as willing to share. So this can show the nature vs nurture debate. We can be taught, nurtured, to be more giving and less selfish. It also shows in nature that our brains are developing since the levels acted the same, depending on the age group.
ReplyDeletePrior to watching this video i believed that all babies are born morally neutral and that society shapes who they become as a person. After gaining more information about the experiments that were held makes me think a little bit more into it. I don't really believe that the babies could follow along and tell which stuff animal was good or bad. Good and bad are just terms made up from society and we are the ones saying what is so called good and bad. A baby I believe has no information about good or bad it only learns from outside sources and his or her own experiences. Of course everyone's thought process is a little different from one another and that is what i think makes us unique. That is what will make someones experiences in life different from one another, everyone evaluates and acts upon what they know about that certain thing because of what other people taught them about it or their own past experience and nothing else. I believe we are born knowing how to eat and drink and survive and we develop all of these feelings along the way with our own experiences in life
ReplyDeleteBefore watching the video I had the conception that babies did have some idea of good and bad. The research presented changed my mind very little, if at all. In the first experiment, the majority of babies prefer the puppet that helped the other, struggling puppet. This experiment included no prior influences that would cause the babies to develop any connections with a specific puppet. Therefor, I feel that it is safe to say that in the most basic sense, we are born with the idea of good and bad. This is altered slightly when circumstances are presented that allow for connections or a lack of to be formed. Once this is done, babies often show preference to the puppet which is most similar to themselves. In an instinctual environment, this cannot be chalked up to be “bad” behavior. It is simply an instinctual reaction that would be fitting in a undeveloped world, directly related to the instinct to help those of your own kind. In the more egalitarian world we live in today children are taught acceptance and generosity, in general terms, towards others. Yes, I believe the experiences and lessons we receive while growing up decide our behaviors in the long run. In the most extreme cases, children raised with racists parents, exposed to very few non-bigoted opinions will be racist. I believe this research was about as sound as it could be. It is difficult to collect extremely solid data from subjects who have no verbal communication. Their research appeared well conducted but could have done better. The situations presented to the babies might have been able to be more straightforward and with less “fluff.” Overall, I agree with their conclusion. I agreed before watching the video but agree still with the data they have to back it up.
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