Ethical Babies

Today I read this article, http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071121/ap_on_re_us/infant_judging&printer=1;_ylt=AvFkCKf78WNd0gse_j_PuORH2ocA about babies and their ability to distinguish between "naughty and nice" playmates. Apparently when they were presented with a video of a train with googly eyes (sort of like Thomas the Tank Engine, I suppose) trying to climb a hill, they were able to judge the behavior of a second train which either helped or hindered the first one. When they were offered toys that resembled the "nice" or "naughty" train, they preferred the nice train that exhibited kindness and helpfulness. They rejected the train that hindered the "little engine that could."

They also preferred the "good" train to neutral ones and preferred the neutral trains to the "bad" train.

These were babies as young as six months, and some scientists were already saying that 3 month olds were exhibiting similar behaviors. These kids can't even talk yet but they seem to have an innate sense of right and wrong and they want to be in good company, even if it just means they want to play with a "playmate" who will be nice to them.

So instead of original sin, and being born wild and unruly unless they are civilized, it seems that babies have an internal ethical standard that guides them from almost the beginning. It's our experiences later in life that cause us to make the wrong choices and opt for bad company, at least according to this experiment.

This also puts a much bigger responsibility on parents and caregivers of infants, because it suggests that babies who are capable of distinguishing right from wrong behavior are not going to want to be in the company of adults who misbehave and treat others badly -- even if they are kind to the baby. Little eyes are indeed watching us!