Date: Friday, August 14th 2015

Participants (from 7 countries):

Panel PRO: Rebecca, Yusuf, Rick

Panel CON: Parmida, Sunita, Riya, Marwa

AUDIENCE: Kelly

Host: Rick

Moderator: Johny

Panel PRO summary:

Babies are born selfish.
It feels like it is within our genes.
Babies are aggressive until they are taught to be nicer.
Children when born have all emotional characteristics, its the environment they grow up in that teaches them right and wrong..
Some children beat other children to get their attention; it seems they do that naturally.
Some people show an aggressive instinct even after they are taught to be peaceful and civilized and this make us think it could be an innate quality in those particular people.
On the positive view, humans are born with the capacity to be generous, to be kind, to be happy, to be sad, etc. On the other hand, we also have the negative side of this, we are born with the capacity to be cruel, to be selfish, to be violent, to be aggressive which seems that all those qualities are within us since birth which begs the question of what makes these qualities flourish outwards.
People are kind and civilized because of the laws and regulations imposed upon us.

Panel CON summary:

Since previous generations (cave men) they weren't aggressive with each other unless they were in a violent environment which taught them to act this way thus, it’s the environment what makes us act in a way that we wouldn't act if this world was kinder to us.
It is the world put in front of us that drives us away from our real nature which is to be kind and empathetic.
Humans in their youth such as babies see the world around them, watching how their family (mother, father, siblings, etc.) often fight and hold arguments and they repeat or imitate the good things as well as the bad things because that is how they learn about the world and how to interact with another person.
If the world and people around them are nice, the baby will be nice. So, it is not about human nature, it is about the environment and surroundings what makes a person be aggressive or violent.
If violence is part of the human nature, we shall see more violent people in this world than peaceful ones, and this world would be like a real hell, and yet, only a minority seems to be violent and always under certain circumstances.
Babies and toddlers are often misled by some elder people and we can understand the reason of their violent or aggressive behavior once we discover their lack of fundamental needs.
People will remain peaceful unless situations force them to act differently.
Situations are character builders.
Many people, who are born peaceful, want to remain so, even when the environment tries hard to change them.
People who go to the mountains find peace and they realize, living in the cities and among millions of people, make them feel stressed, thus it is civilization that makes people be angry, anxious, sad, pressed, and it changes people’s behavior.
Children’s nature are driven by parents and relatives, if parents are violent, if friends are aggressive, if people are following and adapting to other’s behaviors, they learn to be the same way and it is not because they born with such a thing.
If humans were innately violent towards each other, our species would have been extinguished long ago.
People are nice and peaceful, not because of the laws and government or society regulations because most people do not even know the laws or these regulations. They are peaceful because of their own principles and personalities.

AUDIENCE summary:

Kelly voted for the team A.
Team A won this debate. Thanks everyone for participating!

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Violence as part of the human nature - 14-8-2015 | Recording file

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