Innate Morality?

In the Infant Cognition Center at Yale University, psychologists study whether babies understand right from wrong.  One argument in developmental psychology describes the infant brain as a blank slate which must learn nearly everything that makes us human.  However, recent research suggest that babies already know right from wrong and many other things we often take for granted.

This New York Times video details some of the studies the scientists have done.  They bring in babies and perform a puppet show with a character performing a task.  A second character either helps and hinders the main character with the task.  After showing the characters interacting several times, the researchers let the baby pick one of the puppets.  Nearly 80% of the time, the babies choose the "good" character who helped the main character.

Perhaps, we have a sense of right or wrong from birth.  This study and others involving mirror neurons suggest that we are wired for compassion instead of competition.  Familial and tribal ties helped our species survive through very tough times in the last 1.8 million years and now our empathic nature extends to not only the human race but also the other living creatures on Earth.  We know what is good and what is bad.  We feel good when we help others and feel bad when we hurt another (even when it is an accident).