There are some ingrained behaviors, instincts, emotional reactions, etc. While we’re not fully blank slates, there is definitely a lot of room for influence to shape children into different sorts of adults.
Lashing out with violence is definitely ingrained in most people as part of the fight/flight/freeze response, which then gets shaped by experience, etc.
“Beating the shit out of people for fun” is waaaaay further down the line in terms of behavioral development, personal experience, and cultural influence, for sure.
They start life as a completely blank state, everything is a learned behavior.
So yes, infants are innocent. As soon as there is learned behavior, that goes out the window.
There are some ingrained behaviors, instincts, emotional reactions, etc. While we’re not fully blank slates, there is definitely a lot of room for influence to shape children into different sorts of adults.
Sure, crying when hungry, talking, trying to crawl and walk… stuff like that.
Beating the shit out of people for fun is most definitely a learned behavior.
Lashing out with violence is definitely ingrained in most people as part of the fight/flight/freeze response, which then gets shaped by experience, etc.
“Beating the shit out of people for fun” is waaaaay further down the line in terms of behavioral development, personal experience, and cultural influence, for sure.
Fight is almost always the last resort as it’s the most energy expensive option.
One has to be taught to prioritize fight over the others: hence soldiers needing training.
Then again, I’m reasonably sure there’s some kind of G21N gene present in at least one country’s population that buggers that up.
There’s being neurodivergent too. My mom said I was a hothead when I was a young kid. I have ADHD btw.
Good point. I thought I was missing something obvious but couldn’t figure out what it was