I have a simple question and it shouldn't case too as many political insurrections as my past ones have. Is a person born with a conscience or is it a learned aspect of the mind?

it is an aspect of the mind, people can choose not to listen to a conscience, and THAT, is why we have ers, lol

It is definetely learned. You only have to look at different cultures and their beleifs, eg the ancient Romans thought nothing of having a person brutally slaughtered in front of them for sport; today people would be appalled and disgusted, including children, because we have been taught that this is unacceptable.

I believe it's both - you are born with a conscience, but what you do with it is learned.

Interesting thoughts. Here is another question that may help later posts on their opinions. What truely is a conscience? Is it a nagging feeling telling of right and wrong or somthing more profound than that?

"I think, therefore I am." When you think about it, though, where do the "I" and the "me" come from? You need society to become fully 'human.' "I" is who I am as a person (does that make sense?) and "me" is who I am in relation to others (society). The "I" plus the "me" equals the 'self.' Fun stuff, eh? I'm in sociology right now and this is what we're studying.
About a conscience: of course we are born with a conscience. We are born into society, therefore we are born into certain 'norms.' When we deviate from these norms our conscience kicks in. Whether or not we listen to the conscience is our free will. Society places sanctions on how well we follow these norms (i.e.. extreme case: we kill someone, it'll land us in jail; not so extreme: we laugh at a funeral and people glare at us).
It's been said that we have a universal set of rules for right and wrong that transcend culture and time. CS Lewis calls it the Tao, but others have noted the same thing. This, in his opinion (and mine), point to a higher power. Not to say that God has been present in all these cultures or all the people within a culture, but that its been noted through time that morals are essential to a functioning society. These morals are essential to a follower of Christ because a lack of morals makes us empty when Christ calls us to be Holy. Ethics are all well and good, but they need to be attached to something good and true, and I can't think of anything better than Jesus Christ. And these morals are learned, as well. Why do you think God gave us a guide book (Bible)?
Alright. Thats enough for now. Have a good one.

To usernameid10 the argument is confusing but I belive I can digest it. If all people are born with a conscience, which by the way is not the same thing as ethics, please explain the event on the following link.
http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30200-12863870,00.html

Which book does CS Lewis call it Tao I must have missed it or just don't remember it.

you like that article, don't you?
i can't explain the kid's situation and i don't fell like analyizing it right now. But neither can you negate Lewis' theory of Tao by some isolated event involving children in Croatia. Moreover, the two are only vaguely connected. I think that ethics implys a conscience. The two are connected.
The Lewis book is "The Abolition of Man," and just call me jim. :)

In the mathematical community a theory is created and is put to various test. If just one of those test is proves a theory wrong it is discarded, even if it is an isolated incident. I will look back on that book by CS Lewis. You may call me matt.

but ethics and community are not mathmatical, are they? just because a specific group of kids cuts up another kid doesn't prove or disprove the lack of morals in society as a whole. i'm not denying trends in society, but this isolated incident in croatia doesn't prove your theory.

Im not trying to prove lack of morals in a society as a whole at all. What I am attempting to do is prove or disprove whether or not we are born with morals or whether they are implanted in us from the beginning. I try this giving examples and counter examples.
More or less what im trying to do is contardict every theory that comes here so take no offense if it seems like i am singling your post out.
Based on my posts which side of the argument do you think I am on.

um.... alright. i see what you're getting at. i don't think that children are born with a set of morals. i'm not sure how i feel siding with the idea of morals being entirely based on nurture though. i think there has to be more to it than that. i'll get back to you when i come up with a clearer answer than this. in short, this is a nature vs. nurture discussion, correct? are we born with morals, or are they learned? i would have to go somewhere in the middle, but i'm not sure where that is right now.
have a good one matt and everyone.

A person picks up their morals by the people that they interact with. If you know a person that drinks and smokes a lot, you may (over time) become tolerant of it. So, it is that your moral becomes. Those who are taught that drinking and smoking are bad at an early age become intolerant of people who drink and smoke.

Morals are caused by a the Domino Theory. If someone that feels strongly about something and can convince you well enough about it, you will pick up that something and it will become your own (such as one domino falls and brings another with it). Almost anything that your mind accepts (beliefs, manners, mannerisms, etc.) becomes a part of your own.

These are something that are learned and not instinctual.

i have a very simplistic opinion... wanna hear it?, here it go...

i believe that, to a certain extent, the way people react to events (good or bad) and the way they take ownership of what they have seen by either making it their own and adopting it into their lifestyle, or finding it to be something they themselves would never do, is in direct relationship to that persons inner strength and ability to stand by their own opinions and beliefs. <----- run on sentence.

i think it could be argued that character is a learned sensibility. one might say that a child is born with a clean slate, so to speak, and therefore would have to learn absolutely everything it knows, including bits of common knowledge or trivia, as well as emotional standards that would be used throughout its lifetime. it may sound naive, but i believe everyone is born with an inate sense of right and wrong. when your a child, you know if something doesn't feel right. you feel bad if you hurt someone elses feelings. its not simply mimicking a reaction you've seen. you feel. when you get older, its a bit more tricky. because you want acceptance, you may be willing to set your own morals or character aside and adopt someone elses. but deep down, you know the difference between right and wrong.

SOOOO... i believe that humans are born with a conscience.

Great raptorfalcon, you got synikol goin again, it think synikol should run for prez or sumpin!!