Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Aya Katz on May 29, 2012 at 11:10pm

Jeff, what do you mean by "good" and "bad"? 

Permalink Reply by jeff herman on May 30, 2012 at 8:19pm

People who grow up to become murderers; stuff like that. Could they have been good kids?

Permalink Reply by Aya Katz on May 30, 2012 at 11:45pm

Sure. They could have been relatively good kids. But not every murder is like every other murder.

It's a simplistic question, not just in terms of characterizing people as all good or all bad, but in not recognizing that some murders are easier to justify than others. 

Permalink Reply by Aya Katz on June 1, 2012 at 12:19pm

No. Of course not. Personality is inborn, and sometimes there is a mismatch between personality and what is expected of us in a particular society or a particular family. The same child might fit in fine in one environment and not another.