Using the information from the 60 Minutes piece and the article from The New Republic distributed in class, write your reaction to the title questions. Then, how do you suppose religion/theology fits into this research?
Here is a link to another look at Yale's Baby Lab experiments.
You must also reply to at least two other students' observations (respectfully, as always).
I do not think babies are any more moral or less moral than humans. However, I am not sure how moral humans are. I am skeptical of the experiments with the babies but I do find the results very interesting. If babies are moral, I do not think that necessarily means God gave them this morality. Honestly, I do not think it makes any sense that God randomly put morality in humans brains when they were finally mentally ready. I can understand that he was guiding morality through evolution by favoring certain characteristics. I am still confused what he was doing for the rest of all time if either of these are true.
ReplyDeleteIf you don't believe that god gives humans morals, then where do you think our morals come from?
DeleteI agree with your point that while babies can have morals that doesn't mean that god has given them their morals at birth. Also, what do you mean by mentally ready - and does this age differ between each individual baby?
DeleteI think humans are born with a mind which has evolved to help them survive are inherently selfish. They like to see help because they see help with survival and they don't like to see destruction because they see destruction of survival. However, when they are personally invested, they don't like to see someone else helped at their perceived expense and are still gunning for their own survival. Did this make sense?
DeleteI understand what you are saying but i still don't think you answered Dave's question, which is what I was wondering as well. Do you mean that they are mentally ready when they evolve to be able to survive?
DeleteIn my opinion, I feel that it's true when it is said that babies are born with a certain sense of right and wrong. However, in my opinion the moral sense babies have is through birth. Why some babies grow up to be evil while others stay kind, in my opinion, is due to conditioning and environment. If you learn your times tables but then never practice or use them, you'll eventually begin to forget them. The same goes with kindness. However, if you are reminded to be nice and constantly continue to be nice, it will continue on with you. With the research, I think that theology does fit in. Christianity is a religion that preaches charity and kindness, and that plays into the conditioning and environment that makes people nice.
ReplyDeleteWhere do you think the morality comes from?
DeleteI agree, Jon, that religion can shape a person's moral development, hopefully adding to it in a positive way.
DeleteIn my opinion Maddy, I believe that the morals we have are born with. Now when I say this I mean that we are born with a very, very, very basic and rudimentary set of morals. The rest I believe are obtained through conditioning and environment. As the saying goes "no one is born racist", and in my opinion I believe that no one is born with without some sense of compassion or knowing to help others. In Sikhism, the Deg Tegh Fateh dogma instructs Sikhs to protect and feed the needy and oppressed, and from a very young age many Sikhs develop a good set of morals because of this. Religion ties in because it develops the morals as an environmental factor as humans grow.
DeleteNo, I do not believe that god made babies moral. As a child grows up, even at the age where they cannot walk, talk, or point, they experience important lessons from parents or babysitters regarding morality. For example, during one of the PBS kids shows they watch, the baby witnesses an animal treating another animal poorly and being punished for their actions. They learn to dislike the rude creature while rooting or listening to the well-behaved one. Consequently, the world that surrounds the infant strongly influences his morality rather then them being born with the attribute.
ReplyDeleteSo why do you think the babies make these choices? Are they really intelligent enough to be learning life lessons?
DeleteIt's interesting, David, that you thought that the experiment not only tested the babies, but also taught them a lesson in morality. I wouldn't have thought that they were learning anything, but your idea makes sense, since children absorb knowledge very quickly.
DeleteYes Maddy, while babies aren't smart enough to talk or communicate their feelings, they are able to realize right from wrong and use this knowledge to make the choice which follows their beliefs.
DeleteNot sure babies have a belief system yet; it is not clear to me that they are making moral choices in the same way the kids were at age 9+
DeleteI think that people are born with a set moral code, but that it can be influenced through experience and learning. I'm not sure if everyone is born with the same set of morals, but I definitely think that how a person is raised and their surrounding culture (like their religion, with different religions preaching different things about morality) can influence their morality. I don't agree with Afred Russell Wallace, discussed in Bloom's article, that God instilled different levels of good morals in different people. I wonder, Why would God have done this? Would a low level of good morality be a punishment to a person, or those around him? Especially in religions that don't follow the belief of reincarnation, how would God instilling different levels of good and bad morality be determined?
ReplyDeleteI agree Maria, I think babies and children are born with a set moral code and their life experiences will be heavily influence their actions. Also, I agree Bloom's argument makes no sense. If god was such a perfect and divine being then why would he create creatures with horrible morals.
DeleteI think it's very interesting that you point out that, if god does in fact give humans their morals, then why do some people's moral compasses point in a better direction than others? I note that you say that God may give people worse morals than others as a form of punishment. But if their morals got them in trouble in the first place, wouldn't God want to improve their morals?
DeleteTo answer your first question, I think that a person's morality depends on whether their parents instilled in them the values to be kind to others, to see the good in others, etc. To answer your second question, I think that if reincarnation is being discussed, the purpose of being reincarnated into a certain being based on how you lived your previous life serves as that lesson of the value of improving one's morals.
DeleteNo matter where your initial moral sense comes from, think about how it changes over time. Then, what IS it that moves you to behave in certain ways throughout your life? Are you afraid of punishment? Do you think you'll be judged in "the end"? Do you do what's right because it's right?
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ReplyDeleteI think that babies are born with very similar sense of right and wrong, but it is the environment that changes them and shapes their moral code, whether that environment is religious or not. As children get older, they experience more things, meet more people, and their morals are challenged. But I also don't think that the morals that babies are born with were given by god, I think they come from instincts. Religion/god might influence a person's morals by teachings and practices over time, but morals don't come from them. There are people who are not religious or do not practice religion or believe in god who still have moral codes.
ReplyDeleteI completely disagree with the idea that humans could be born with a moral code, In the sense they know right from wrong. Because morals drastically differ between religions like Islam, Judaism, Jainism and Christianity it is impossible to say that there is a distinct set of morals every good human should follow. We are all animals, just like monkeys and dolphins and bears, and are born into this world ignorant and innocent of social/behavioral skills. Each human is developed by their family and social setting to learn social skills and know whether it is right or wrong to kill, steal, or cheat.
ReplyDeleteDo the morals differ drastically, or just the expression? Don't those religions condemn murder, value charity, etc.?
DeleteI do not believe that babies are born moral. we got our morals at early age from watching our parents and what we were taught (always be nice, share, treat other the way you would want to be treated) and what we experienced. I believe what David said to be true about children watching television and how actions form the TV translate to a child's life actions.
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