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Do Babies Have a Moral Compass? Debate Heats Up
Live Science ^ | 08/16/2012 | Megan Gannon and Jeanna Bryner

Posted on 08/16/2012 8:23:53 AM PDT by SeekAndFind

An experiment five years ago suggested that babies are equipped with an innate moral compass, which drives them to choose good individuals over the bad in a wooden puppet show. But new research casts doubt on those findings, demonstrating that a baby's apparent preference for what's right might just reflect a fondness for bouncy things.

The researchers who conducted the original study stand by their results and interpretations, pointing to some discrepancies in the new study.

In the original study, conducted by Yale researchers in 2007, groups of 6-month-olds and 10-month-olds watched a puppet show with neutral wooden figures, where one figure, the climber, was trying to get up a hill. In one scenario, one of the other figures, called the helper, assisted the climber up the hill. In the other scenario, a third figure, called the hinderer, pushed the climber down.

Babies were then presented with the helper and hinderer figures so they could pick which one they preferred, and 14 out of 16 babies in the older group (10 months old) and all 12 of the 6-month-olds picked the helper. The study, which was published in the journal Nature, seemed to imply that infants could be good judges of character. [

(Excerpt) Read more at livescience.com ...


TOPICS: Religion; Science; Society
KEYWORDS: 2012; babies; moralabsolutes; moralcompass; morality

1 posted on 08/16/2012 8:24:04 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind

Well that explains democrats... at some point their moral compass was replaced with a fondness for bouncy things.


2 posted on 08/16/2012 8:27:35 AM PDT by apillar
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To: SeekAndFind

Matthew 19:14

“Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.”


3 posted on 08/16/2012 8:30:55 AM PDT by LibLieSlayer (Sarah speaking at the romney convention would be like Led Zeppelin opening for The Monkees)
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To: SeekAndFind

Attack on original sin. . . man is innately good vs man is innately sinful as the Bible teaches. Just try to raise a child from a baby and give them everything they want, when they want it. Do that and you will discover what a vile little POS they can become left to their own devices.


4 posted on 08/16/2012 8:31:32 AM PDT by RatRipper (Obama, YOU LIE!!! . . .again and again and again and again, ad infinitum. . . .)
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To: SeekAndFind

Babies only dream of angels, liberals only dream of their deaths.


5 posted on 08/16/2012 8:34:36 AM PDT by mardi59 (THE REBELLION IS ON!!! LET THE GAMES BEGIN!)
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To: RatRipper
exactly... I find it funny when someone says to me, that humans have to be taught selfishness..that it is a learned behavior.

for babies, selfishness works and it means they get the milk they need to survive..

we must be taught to be good.. i

6 posted on 08/16/2012 8:36:04 AM PDT by Chuzzlewit
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To: SeekAndFind

Cute little heartwarming idea ... but no, they don’t. Anybody that’s ever raised a kid can tell you that

They have to be taught right-and-wrong. They recognize good and bad emotions ... smile vs. scowl, etc. But, they do not know right from wrong ... and, when they learn, they don’t instinctively pick right.

SnakeDoc


7 posted on 08/16/2012 8:39:39 AM PDT by SnakeDoctor ("I've shot people I like more for less." -- Raylan Givens, Justified)
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To: SeekAndFind
Do Babies Have a Moral Compass? Debate Heats Up

Does somebody ACTUALLY PAY people to do this crap? Must be "GUBMINT" funded. Tragic.

8 posted on 08/16/2012 8:39:39 AM PDT by GoldenPup (Comrade "O" has got to GO!!)
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To: SeekAndFind; wagglebee

BTTT


9 posted on 08/16/2012 8:58:50 AM PDT by EdReform (Oath Keepers - Guardians of the Republic - Honor your oath - Join us: www.oathkeepers.org)
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To: SeekAndFind

“Do Babies Have a Moral Compass? “

Well.... I’m pretty sure that babies think that killing babies before they are born, is wrong. If they could vote, I am sure they would vote against abortion.

Where my money?


10 posted on 08/16/2012 9:10:06 AM PDT by UCANSEE2 (Tagline: (optional, printed after your name on post): Sorry, I want it in cursive.)
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To: SeekAndFind

IDIOTS. They are babies. On what would their moral compass be based on as they have no personal experiences....


11 posted on 08/16/2012 9:15:26 AM PDT by SECURE AMERICA (Where can I sign up for the New American Revolution and the Crusades 2012?)
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To: SeekAndFind

When my grand aunt was born she had a natural scowl look on her face. As she grew her photos still show that scowl.

When I was a baby my parents said I was terrified of my aunt. I got over it as I grew older but I always remember that mad look on her face.

When I was a child in school I had a knack for pointing out the bullies on the school bus just by their looks.
On my first day at a new school one boy got on the bus and his looks terrified me. Yes, his whole family were natural born troublemakers on the bus and in school. His younger brother is doing life in prison now.


12 posted on 08/16/2012 9:28:11 AM PDT by Ruy Dias de Bivar (Tyrannies demand immense sacrifices of their people to produce trifles.-Marquis de Custine)
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To: SECURE AMERICA

——IDIOTS. They are babies. On what would their moral compass be based on as they have no personal experiences....——

I think your premise is faulty....that morality is only born of personal experiance....humans including babies are born with a conscience...

I base that on the fact that many cultures across the world going back to when men first appeared have set up laws and rules which universally are similar....

People inherently know the basics of what is right or wrong....until corrupted by their upbringing or life experiences...


13 posted on 08/16/2012 9:37:56 AM PDT by Popman (In a place you only dream of Where your soul is always free)
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To: SeekAndFind

I don’t know many adults who are good judges of character, much less than an infant! Proof....ELECTIONS


14 posted on 08/16/2012 9:39:34 AM PDT by AuntB (Illegal immigration is simply more "share the wealth" socialism and a CRIME not a race!)
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To: Ruy Dias de Bivar
Photobucket This is my Daughter being held by my Mother. She loved her Grandma from the earliest I can recall. The fact that her Grandmother was the kindest and gentlest soul one could imagine probably had something to do with it. Babies know a lot more than people realize and I agree with you, their personality can be seen very early.
15 posted on 08/16/2012 9:40:04 AM PDT by yarddog
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To: yarddog

What a wonderful pic!


16 posted on 08/16/2012 9:42:11 AM PDT by trisham (Zen is not easy. It takes effort to attain nothingness. And then what do you have? Bupkis.)
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To: SeekAndFind

False debate. That babies would gravitate towards the “nice” person says nothing about a moral compass.

I think you could make the argument that even “bad” adults will gravitate towards those perceived as helpers - rather than “hinderers”.

(the good-girl-seeks-bad-boy syndrome notwithstanding)


17 posted on 08/16/2012 11:52:57 AM PDT by jonno (Having an opinion is not the same as having the answer...)
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To: SeekAndFind

It might be interpreted differently:babies are not fond of any disruption of flow. Helping the climber keeps the flow (of climbing), pushing down is a disruption.


18 posted on 08/16/2012 12:28:44 PM PDT by paudio (Two stubborn facts remain: (1) Romney is better than 0bama, and (2) Romney is the Republican Nominee)
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To: SeekAndFind

19 posted on 08/16/2012 1:30:19 PM PDT by JRios1968 (I'm guttery and trashy, with a hint of lemon. - Laz)
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To: trisham

Thank you. I do need to do a little photoshop on it to remove the dust specks etc.

I recently sent that picture to my daughter who is now grown with half grown kids of her own.

When Mother was dying at age 86 she felt so bad she did not even want her sisters to visit and those sisters were very close. Actually she didn’t want to see anyone but she made an exception for that granddaughter. She had 12 grandchildren but Lesley was the only one she agreed to see. Lesley loved her Grabdna so much that it really hurt her to see Mother so ill.


20 posted on 08/16/2012 5:59:37 PM PDT by yarddog
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