+279 The idea that a group of humans that have never met are inherently born with a set of ideas, values and morals is debunked by the reality of basic social interaction, because we take more ideas from our social world than we generate, amirite?

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Yeah! What he said!

by Anonymous 12 years ago

There's evidence for both sides of this argument. Twin studies especially provide great data. It could really go either way. EDIT: Logically speaking, any argument could go either way, unless it's a solid fact with irrefutable evidence.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Do the twin studies take into account that most twins are raised in the same environment? I know that if I was raised apart from my sister in a totally different house I would be a different person with different beliefs about right and wrong on so many different issues.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Actually, they do. I can't cite any off the top of my head, but in my Psychology class we learned about this specific topic, and it's still somewhat fresh in my mind. The studies show that there are some ideas that are inherent in the twins raised apart, but for the most part, they're different people with different sets of beliefs. At least I think that's what I learned...

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Personally, I think most people are just born with the desire to not upset others. Morals usually come from noticing that if person A does this then person B will be be hurt, resulting in making person A feel sorry for hurting person B. Values that don't hurt others (interracial dating, sex before marriage, homosexuality, etc.) stem from how the person was raised.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

To be honest, I have no idea what I was thinking when I made this post, and still can't think about what I meant by it.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

They weren't... Google Tabula rasa

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Lol, I actually remember now, I was reading about that when I wrote this. But, yeah, I personally don't reckon we're born as a complete blank slate, or with complete biological determination - every individual is a combination of the two, although I do reckon a lot about us is social constructs - that's it's not a 50/50 split.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Yeah, i don't agree with the idea of a COMPLETELY blank slate because for example, how does a baby know where to get its milk?

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Yeah, I mean, as soon as you put a newborn to it's mother's breast, it knows how to suck and swallow. I actually sometimes make posts when I'm bored, and some of them are just talking crap, but because I word them in a "smart way" they get homepaged.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

John Locke has some really good treatises on this. I'm pretty sure his stance is that most people have the moral inclination to want to treat people fairly if it does not adversely affect them, and they are sympathetic. I can't be 100% sure though, I may have taken that from a different debate.

by Anonymous 12 years ago