Margot+Pitney+RP+Post+3


 * RP Post 3**


 * Source 1:**
 * 1) Are humans innately good?
 * 2) Scientists Probe Human Nature -- and discover we are good, after all
 * 3) Adrian F. Ward
 * 4) http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/scientists-probe-human-nature-and-discover-we-are-good-after-all/
 * 5) Website found through Google on May 28, 2014
 * 6) Ward, with references to scientists and philosophers such as Augustine and Rousseau, provides an objective, informative definition of the term being good; he then goes into depth about an experiment that helps to prove that humans are naturally good but leaves it up to his readers: ponderers, skeptics, and believers alike, to make the decision for themselves.
 * 7) The source first acknowledges the ongoing debate and defines what is vaguely used as "being good." It then goes on to explain both sides of the argument and the popular beliefs. However, the majority of the source is devoted to an explanation of a scientific and psychological experiment that utilizes the skill of decision making in order to prove that humans are born good.
 * 8) It may not be proven yet that humans are born "good" but they certainly are born to work cooperatively with others as proved in the decision making experiment.
 * 9) I was very persuaded by this article to believe that humans are innately good. It describes a study I had not heard of until reading the article. What has been keeping me from agreeing with previous sources that humans are born good is the reoccurring experiment using babies.I could not pinpoint any flaws in this new experiment unlike the one using babies. The author also acknowledges that this experiment does not prove anything but makes for some convincing evidence, therefore I was lead to believe that the author was not being biased, rather he was just spewing out information.
 * "If human nature is something we must be born with, then we may be neither good nor bad, cooperative nor selfish. But if human nature is simply the way we tend to act based on our intuitive and automatic impulses, then it seems that we are an overwhelmingly cooperative species, willing to give for the good of the group even when it comes at our own personal expense."
 * "That is, are we predisposed to act cooperatively, to help others even when it costs us? Or are we, in our hearts, selfish creatures?"
 * "This focus on first instincts stems from the [|dual process framework] of decision-making, which explains decisions (and behavior) in terms of two mechanisms: intuition and reflection"
 * "Augustine’s doctrine of [|original sin] proclaimed that all people were born broken and selfish, saved only through the power of divine intervention. [|Hobbes], too, argued that humans were savagely self-centered; however, he held that salvation came not through the divine, but through the social contract of civil law."
 * "Augustine’s doctrine of [|original sin] proclaimed that all people were born broken and selfish, saved only through the power of divine intervention. [|Hobbes], too, argued that humans were savagely self-centered; however, he held that salvation came not through the divine, but through the social contract of civil law."

Source 2:
 * 1) Are humans innately good?
 * 2) "Are bwe born with a moral core? The baby lab says, yes"
 * 3) Susan Chun
 * 4) http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/12/us/baby-lab-morals-ac360/
 * 5) cnn.com found on google on May 28,2014
 * 6) Susan Chun, taking on the voice of the scientists at the Baby Lab, informatively describes the procedure for the experiment that determines whether or not babies are born good in order to address the ongoing debate and persuade skeptics that they are indeed born good.
 * 7) The article states the previously held beliefs on the subject. Then it explains the baby experiment. It concludes by acknowledging but then refuting skeptics.
 * 8) Babies are born with a sense of what is good and what is bad.
 * 9) I was very persuaded by this article because it refuted all the flaws I thought the experiment had saying that the experimenters were careful to change the color and atmosphere of the puppets.
 * 10) "Philosophers and psychologists have long believed that babies are born "blank slates," and that it is the role of parents and society to teach babies the difference between right and wrong; good and bad; mean and nice."
 * "But a growing number of researchers now believe differently. They believe babies are in fact born with an innate sense of morality, and while parents and society can help develop a belief system in babies, they don't create one."
 * "Which bunny do the babies choose? More than 80% of the babies in the study showed their preference for the good bunny, either by reaching for the good bunny or staring at it."
 * "these studies show that even before babies can speak or walk, they judge good and bad in the actions of others because they are born with a rudimentary sense of justice."
 * "The team at the Baby Lab has been very careful in their studies to change the puppets, shirt colors and placement of the animals before presenting them to various babies, and they feel confident their published research is sound."