Margot+Pitney+RP+Post+5

Source 1: BBC Future: Are we naturally good or bad?


 * In discussions of innate human characters, some argue that all humans are born good while others contend that humans are born bad. There are those who believe neither, and argue that humans are born neither good nor bad rather they are neutral.
 * Babies have minimal cultural influence = good test subjects
 * Problem with using them: lack abilities to communicate through language
 * Yale University experiment: puppet show - one puppet helped the other get up the hill, another one hindered the puppet from getting up the hill. Babies were more likely to reach or stare at the puppet that helped the other
 * skeptics might argue that “babies are just self interested and expect others to be the same way”
 * this experiment matters because “At a minimum though, it shows that tightly bound into the nature of our developing minds is the ability to make sense of the world in terms of motivations, and a basic instinct to prefer friendly intentions over malicious ones. It is on this foundation that adult morality is built.”

Source 2: City of Glass
 * Cassandra Clare states, “People aren't born good or bad. Maybe they're born with tendencies either way, but its the way you live your life that matters.”
 * Example of one person who believes people are born neutral and it’s the influences in life that make them good or bad.

Source 3: Scientist Probe Human Nature


 * These findings challenge the work of earlier researchers such as Augustine and Hobbes who tended to assume that humans are innately self centered and evil
 * Research suggests our first instinct is to cooperate
 * Naturally good is defined as being “predisposed to act cooperatively, to help others even when it costs us”
 * Experiment focuses on the decision making of adults
 * “Throughout the ages, people have wondered about the basic state of human nature—whether we are good or bad, cooperative or selfish.”
 * Human nature is to cooperate, proven by such studies

Source 4: Brainy quotes
 * Pope Francis believes that “ each of us has a vision of good and of evil. We have to encourage people to move towards what they think is good... Everyone has his own idea of good and evil and must choose to follow the good and fight evil as he conceives them. That would be enough to make the world a better place.”