Babies are surprisingly moral (sort of)

RobbyPants
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Babies are surprisingly moral (sort of)

According to the highly scientific article on Cracked, babies seek justice* and distrust liars**. Now, the article isn't actually what the article is saying, but I thought it was funny when I compared the findings to the notion I was taught as a kid, that we are all born into sin. So, apparently, babies innately have a sense of right and wrong.

 

* Babies were shown a play with three shapes, where a circle would help a triangle up a hill, and a square would push it back down. When offered shaped toys later, the babies tended to go for the circle and shunned the square. They tested this with different combinations to make sure there wasn't something special about circles that babies naturally liked.

 

** Babies were tested in two groups. In one, adults would open a box and feign excitement, only to show the baby an empty box. In the other group, the adults would feign excitement and there would be a toy in the box. Afterward, all the adults showed the babies how to operate a light switch... with their forehead. The group with the toys would mimic the adults most of the time, but the group that was tricked would only imitate the adults about one-in-three times. So, it seems babies don't trust liars.


cj
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that is one of those "well, duh" experiments

It's why peek-a-boo is such fun for a baby to play. You are not lying, you are joking around. And understanding the joke implies understanding the difference between play and lie. Babies are not born blank slates - and that is a good thing.

 

-- I feel so much better since I stopped trying to believe.

"We are entitled to our own opinions. We're not entitled to our own facts"- Al Franken

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