A good number of people would like to think that babies are born as blank slates in terms of how moral they are. They would be right for a few months, at least until the average baby becomes aware of their surroundings. This is when society’s influence begins to tinge the reactions and overall temperament of a child. Babies are the perfect example of how the most basic emotions drive us to become who we are.
Babies know what is right and wrong on a very simplistic level, as they will gravitate towards what they feel is right and just from their own perspective. What is missing from this particular equation however is that the world around them tends to tinge the baby’s awareness just as it does older children and adults. Babies know enough of what they see and how it makes them feel, but without the added experience to draw from they will move towards what is familiar and what is considered safe. As seen in the Cheerios and graham crackers test (CBS News, 2012), young children and babies will seek out like-minded aspects and individuals that share traits with them, no matter how trivial they are.
As to the blue and green chip test, this is largely a matter of survival and gaining an edge. Younger children typically don’t possess the capacity to think of others yet, and will still be pushed by the stronger, more basic urges that force them to take without thinking. This does not make them bad, but instead more concerned with their own well-being than that of others. Children are what they see, hear, and are trained to do in their earliest years, partially written stories that are continually added to as their lives progress.
When pressed it is true that some people will fall back on their more simplistic
tendencies, drawing upon the more childish aspect of their person in order to protect themselves.
This however is largely due to the reactions and experiences that are lived through as children,
and the guidance that is received to help the individual through such times. Many people can handle stressful situations without resorting to the childish ways of their past, while others who were not guided as well in their early years will fall back upon what is comfortable and what is considered safe. Regressing in such a manner is a defense mechanism that each and every human being possesses, but a good number have learned how to resist.
As babies every person is born with an innate tool kit (Tucker, 2013) that is designed to help understand and navigate the surrounding world. How those tools are used are highly dependent upon the nature and nurture aspects that are provided by those that have the greatest effect upon an individual’s first few years. Babies aren’t born inherently good or evil, but when tested many children have been seen to favor the more helpful aspects of humanity over the more negative traits. This goes to show that there is a sense of right and wrong that babies understand on a more basic, primitive level, and even a sense of justice that they follow.
Babies have shown that regardless of their lack of understanding that they would wish to see a transgressor punished rather than forgiven. They have also shown however that through bias they would rather see those who are different than they are be either punished or excluded in some way. This in turn introduces an ingrown bias that can also be explained as safety in familiarity. Overall it shows that babies are more adept at sorting out what they believe is good and bad than was originally believed.
Morality is seemingly hardwired into humanity, but at its most basic level it is still rudimentary and exclusive. Through nurture and nature it is guided and molded in many different ways to produce thinking, rationalizing individuals. No one is ever born just bad or just good, as human beings are a product of their experiences and how they process them. The end result of any life is a matter of how it has been developed, not just how it began.
References
CBS News. (2012, Nov. 18). Born good? Babies help unlock the origins of morality. [Video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRvVFW85IcU
Tucker, A. (2013). Are Babies Born Good? The Smithsonian. Retrieved from
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/are-babies-born-good-165443013/?no-ist=&page=3
