DADA: Nature V. Nurture Discussion

[mrdavismd.livejournal.com]

Hello DADA-ers!

I hope that you have gotten a lot of rest since our obstacle course and are ready for you next Challenge!

This challenge is fairly simple, all you have to do is express your opinion this may be hard for my fellow Slytherins just kidding!

Points:
This is a long debate, therefore there will be 10 pts awarded for first comment. 2pts for each additional comment. Initial comments must be 3-4 sentences and contribute to the on-topic conversation for credit. Follow up comments must consist of at least 2 sentences.

Deadline:
February 21, 2009 at 11:59 pm EST



Details:
Was Tom Riddle born evil or did he grow to be evil? Was Harry Potter innately good or could he have turned out bad? We heard some ideas from Dumbledore and Sirius when talking to Harry but what do you think?

Are people born being who they are or do they become who they are? Why are people good or evil? If Harry grew up like Tom Riddle would he have become Voldemort?

Participants will discuss and debate the idea of nature v. nurture and how one become good or evil. There are no sides for this discussion.

This suggestion was from thesamanthahope so extra 5 points if you participates.

Bonus Points
In your first comment please tell me if you own any of the following books:
#019 The Dark Arts Outsmarted
#024 Defensive Magical Theory
#031 The Dark Forces: A Guide To Self Protection
#032 The Rise And Fall Of The Dark Arts
#047 Practical Defensive Magic And Its Use Against The Dark Arts

Owners will get 2 points per book!


You have to be a member to participate so
Join Us

Comments

[lady-violaceous.livejournal.com]

I believe though that sociopathy is also defined by an inability to feel any kind of sympathy for any other being. There may be many people with no morals or lacking guilt, but to have these traits and also completely lack any sympathy for any other being would make a sociopath. Sociopaths are the kind of people who can watch a kitten being tortured because hey, it's not happening to them. They have trouble seeing other people as people like them.

Sounds like Voldy to me. :)

Sociopathy is believed by researchers to be a combination of nature and nurture, but afaik the nature has to be present. Could be wrong, not a psychologist.

Stephanie//Slytherin

[silveredaccents.livejournal.com]

Oh, I'm not arguing the presence of the nature, but it requires both, I believe, and so yes, I think very rarely are you presented with the combination so clearly.

What I'm not clear on is this, and it's not your point, it's JKR's, I also thought (though I could be wrong) that sociopaths don't feel any form of empathy and are completely unable to connect with anyone around them. This includes feeling hatred toward someone, which Voldy is completely able to do.

And yes, psychology isn't my forte either. But ethics and morality fascinate me.

Kimberly / Slytherin

[lady-violaceous.livejournal.com]

See, when I consider Voldy's anger and hate it's more of a personal frustration that he's been thwarted, and sociopaths are extremely prone to frustration with society, with "unfair" things they believe have happened to them. It's not a personal anger: he doesn't hate Harry because of who Harry is as a person, he hates Harry because of who Harry-the-object is: the baby that thwarted him and caused his downfall. He hates Harry because Harry messed his shit up, basically: Harry could be Neville or Draco or anyone, really.

Stephanie//Slytherin

[pretty-liquor.livejournal.com]

Well, not being able to feel empathy is featured in more than sociopathy (which is now normally described as an anti-social disorder). It's also a feature of Autism. My brother, for example, finds expressions of pain quite amusing. Not because he's sadistic, but because he understands it only as a reaction, not as the same situation would feel to him. There's no filter there of 'oh, I won't laugh, because I would be offended if someone laughed if I had just put my hand on a hot pan'. Just thought I'd throw that in there.

I don't think you can hate someone if you can't feel anything but indifference about them. I agree with Stephanie. People who don't feel empathy don't really care who's in their way, it's the problem that they care about.

Sociopathy is basically a collection of traits that lead towards you being regarded a poor member of society. Poor behavioural/impulse control, severely blunted emotion, not acknowledging the existence of consequences (or the ability to switch this on and off).

I still have in my head your comment earlier, about using shame to correct someone's behaviour. In fact, the whole idea of having a mental disorder which equates to you opting out of society and gets you branded 'evil' scares me a bit. And now I feel we ought to have a debate about whether evil is about choice or is inherent xD Or exists.

I wonder if anyone could have made Voldemort feel shame. I don't reckon so personally. I think JK built him too determined to his purpose.

Sam//Slytherin

[mrdavismd.livejournal.com]

END OF COMMENTS FOR POINTS