Kenzi Bennick

UWRT 1102
Mrs. Thomas
November 17, 2015
Reflection:
This paper sure has been a beast to tackle. It hasnt been terrible, but I find that so many
of my weaknesses within writing come out. I have found it difficult to let my paper flow and have
each paragraph or idea connect. It seems to be choppy and in pieces. I have had to go back and
add in more transitions while writing. I do enjoy this paper in the aspect that it can be more
personable and it can be a conversation rather than just an informational piece. It has been
easier to incorporate the sources from the annotated bibliographies as well since the information
and quotes had already been found. Instead of having to write from a blank slate, the
bibliographies have given it a baseline to build from the ground up. Something else I am
struggling with is not sounding repetitive. So far it seems like I keep saying and pointing out the
same things continuously. Hopefully it pulls together and shows my thoughts and findings
accurately.

Thesis Paper Draft One:

Are We Basically Good Or Evil?

Inside each of us, there is the seed of both good and evil. It's a constant struggle as to which
one will win. And one cannot exist without the other.
-Eric Burdon - British Musician
I have went back and forth on this topic and have wondered many late nights why I didnt
pick something easier to write about, but then I realize that it is a question I had myself and I
wanted it to be answered. My question: Are we basically good or evil? Are we good? Are we
bad? Are we a mixture of both? Is there a right answer to these questions? There is no single
answer to these questions, as it is controversial and people all think differently about it. This one
question is filled with many others which I hope to shed some light upon. I viewed this question
as a challenge which is why I decided to stick with it.
I like to give people the benefit of doubt approach and think that everyone is good. I
would like to think that everyone deep down has a good heart and does good things but this is
not the case. We all know that no one is perfect, people are self-centered, and make immoral
decisions. Not all people let these actions control them, but then again others do. This doesnt
mean everyone is evil and out to kill and destroy but they do things that would categorize them
as not basically good. Everyone is born with the potential to do good and to be a beneficial
human being but that opportunity is freely given and can be freely declined. For example, in the
time of the Holocaust people were taught or told that the Jews were the problem, so evil was
embedded within the people. They had to choose to conform to the evil actions or to be against
them. So are we as humans basically good or evil?
Throughout all of my research, I found that many professors and scientists believe that
the human species is born evil or that there is a biological issue that causes them to commit evil.
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I also found others who believe that we are simply both; that there is not one or the other but that
the qualities of good and evil are both present. For example, Steve Taylor Ph.D. urges that
people can be a combination of good and bad qualities Taylors article gives a basic
concept of humans possessing the qualities of both goodness and evil. He explains that ones
actions can be based off of their environment and that if they are an evil person that they can be
rehabilitated to display good qualities. On the contrary to Taylor, Others might say that people
are completely evil. I have learned throughout this research that there will always be another
opinion that is different from the one before. So if you view evil or goodness in a different way
than someone else does that change your opinion?
What does it mean to be good? To be born good? What qualities would you possess if
you were only good natured? Good is defined as being right, proper, well-behaved, kind,
beneficent, and so on. Taylor says that It means benevolence, altruism, and selflessness, and
self-sacrifice towards a greater cause all qualities which stem from a sense of empathy. We all
have different words that we can think of to describe the word good and the qualities that it
possesses. When you think of being born good, it changes slightly. To be born good you would
need to obtain the quality of selflessness straight from the womb. Babies, when they are born are
self-centered around their needs and wants. They dont know any different because they are
physically unable to care for themselves. Dennis Prager, President of Prager University, conveys
that goodness is taught not given. If we were born good then we wouldnt need to teach
goodness. Prager favors the idea that humans are born evil, selfish, narcisstic, morally wrong, or
harmful. We are born narcissist, preoccupied with number one, ourselves. Taylor and Prager
both believe the same when it comes to the grounds of evil and that the root is selfishness.
However, some might reject to this idea. Others would say that there is reasoning behind evil
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actions or that we are the exact opposite and in fact born good. Prager touches on this subject as
well and the reasoning behind believing that people are born basically good. Most of the time the
ones who think this way, believe that there are outside forces that cause or drive someone to do
an evil or wrong act. If you believe people are basically good, you are likely to believe that
poverty or bigotry or some other outside force causes people to commit violent crimes;
something drove them to it. This is where environmental factors as well as biological factors
come into the equation. I find myself on the fence when it comes to this topic because I believe
that you are definitely influenced and taught throughout your life what it means to make good
moral decisions as well as what is wrong. There also can be biological issues, like mental
disabilities that can cause an individual to make irrational bad decisions.
In my research I wanted to be able to connect the reasoning behind why we might we
basically good or bad and what directly affects the choices we make. Joshua Greene, associate
professor at Harvard, did research on parts of the brain that affect personal moral decisionmaking.
Greene's study suggested that three brain structures -- the medial prefrontal cortex, the
posterior cingulate and angular gyrus on the left and right sides -- "play a central role in
the emotional processes that influence personal moral decision-making.
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation, TMS, is now a test being conducted to measure
judgement changes. This has come in great use when dealing with psychopaths. Psychopaths are
incapable to correctly decide what is morally right or wrong, or they find pleasure in doing the
wrong thing. This test can help to measure their judgement compared to someone else who is

normal. This can help identify what exactly is the reasoning behind their decisions and can
pinpoint the physical issue within their brain.
A moral "feeling," which seems to be related to the brain's prefrontal cortex and
amygdala, is what takes the recognition that an act is immoral and translates that
recognition into behavioral inhibition, Raine and Yang wrote. "It is this engine that
functions less well in antisocial, violent and psychopathic individuals."
Psychopaths have shown through tests that when having to make a moral decision there is
less activity in the medial frontal and posterior cingulate cortices within the brain. There also is
the Cavum Septum Pellucidum, which is a section in the brain where two membrane strips fuse
together during fetal development. For some they do not fuse which leaves a gap, this is shown
to cause lack of fear and psychopathic personalities. Also another section of the brain called the
Amygdala is the center for emotions and behavior. In killers, the Amygdala is significantly
smaller which could also be reasoning behind their actions. Adrian Raine, criminologist, did
research on the Amygdala and Cavum Septum Pellucidum and believes they are directly
correlated to the actions of killers and psychopaths. This could be one of the reasons why
someone would be born or grow into being an evil person because their body has been
unsuccessful in producing these parts of the brain correctly.