Divya+Yeleswarapu+RP+Post+1

For my research project, I want to write an informative explanation paper. I am really into the whole "let's be controversial and discuss things that are deep and philosophical" kind of thing, so writing a paper dissecting that kind of topic is the way to go. I've been having a hard time choosing what to go with since there are so many things I would like to write about but am not sure if they are appropriate for this assignment. I think writing an informative paper about a concept in society is probably the best option because it'll help me elaborate on some risky topics.

Some research questions:
 * What is the most destructive human behavior?
 * **Are human beings inherently good or evil?**
 * How does one's surroundings affect his/her character?
 * Is morality in human beings a true concept?

To be honest, I like all of these questions, but I'm not sure how to phrase them so that they become good research questions. I don't think they're ready to be researched but I don't know what to do about that. I like the bolded question the most because I think it's the best out of all of them to gather information on. It's also something I discuss with my friends quite often so I thought it would be nice to actually get different opinions on it and do factual work on it. The only problem is that it is very opinionated so I might have to change the informative explanation to a position paper? I'm not too sure. Ahhhhhhhhh.

What I already know about this topic is pretty much only the way I feel about it. I believe that people are born good because of the following reasons: 1) God created us all the same, therefore making us all good (since this touches upon religion I don't know if I should write about it) 2) Violence and negative activity is frowned upon, therefore showing us that society only approves of good deeds 3) Look at babies and children as they are the primitive forms of a human being and they are innocent

As you can see, this is pretty wishy-washy and I need help figuring things out. Some of my early findings are:

There might not even be a concept such as good or evil to be born with. We might just be born on neutral ground and mold our own character. Therefore one could be either good or bad, there is nothing given to him/her straight away. We are born with the potential to do good and the potential to do evil. It is outside influences that make us who we are. According to John Locke we are all born as a "blank slate."

I actually agree with this concept from a practical standpoint because it's easier to prove that there is nothing we are born with and have to in fact create it all on our own. It won't require the theological aspect of the issue, therefore attaching a more credible stance to my paper. Now that I've looked at this more and read a few articles, I've realized three things. 1) I probably can't do this topic, 2) There are almost no credible articles written on this, and 3) I probably can't do this topic.

I really want to do this topic because I feel strongly about human behavior and social interactions and the way people act in general. I have many opinions on the whole thing and think it would be wonderful to finally some research behind it. However I now see that it probably isn't a good idea since it is really isn't based off of logical information or hard facts. However, I want to research a topic like this, where it is a bit controversial I have my own views to really throw my voice into my writing. I enjoy this kind of writing thoroughly and it would be a shame to not be able to do my research paper on something like it.