Natural Science Knowledge

         

           Natural science is defined as "a branch of science that deals with the physical world, e.g., physics, chemistry, geology, and biology" ("Natural Science"). Although natural science consists of these subjects in the natural world, they also deal with research that involves the human brain activities and the body as well. Researchers often conduct surveys and perform experiments to support their findings in the topics of these natural sciences. Based off of results and patterns they see correlating to their research, they develop multiple theories and ideas that can be best suited for a conclusion. The question is, can these conclusions identify if a person is good or bad? As we discussed in class, a great deal of the time it's difficult to see if a person is black or white solely based off of these findings. In any case, there seems to always be an exception depending on the situation. 

            In the article, "Pathological Lying Revisited," by Dike, Baranoski, and Griffith, the writers discuss the historical evolution on pathological lying and compare it to the "pseudolying" that is found in children. They point out the differences between children who lie and pathological liars by stating that children lie base off of fantasies and a denial to reality, while pathological liars are people who start off that way, but also continue that habit of lying into adulthood. In that case, it is no longer innocent and a way of self-development, but rather a serious condition. 

          In a class presentation by Kevin Glenn, we were able to get a closer look into a specific article regarding natural science in neurology. Researchers in this article, "The Neuropsychological Correlates of Pathological Lying: Evidence from Behavioral Variant Frontotemporal Dementia," written by Poletti, Borelli, and Bonuccelli, discussed an experiment they performed on a 57 year old man who deals with pathological lying. Specifically, he told lies about being a computer programmer, when in fact he has no experience dealing with technology at all. Pathological liars uncontrollably and habitually lie without personal gain, and often times are unaware of even doing it. In this man's case, he also wasn't able to recall the lies he tells because his verbal memory was impaired.

        After brain scans and MRI tests, these researchers began to notice that these symptoms dealt with the cognitive function and was caused by a pre-frontal cortex disease. They applied the theory of mind, "the ability to understand and predict other's behavior by attributing independent mental state to them," when evaluating these results. It was later concluded that the man may have behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (BVFTD), which may be the cause of his habitual pathological lying. Although it is a finding through reliable tests, researchers are not for sure that it is the only factor in the man's behavior. It is merely supporting evidence, but not an underlying conclusion. 

         Given these circumstances, I don't believe the mentally ill man is a bad human being at all. It is not only because his lies are harmless and do no intend self gain, but also because his actions for doing so are completely out of his control and awareness. It's simply not their fault that unfortunately pathological liars have to suffer from a pre-frontal cortex disease and cannot function "normally." In cases like these, I would say it's an exception for the person to have bad actions because the condition makes it inevitable and they don't have the intent on purposefully hurting anyone. This is part of the binary bond that is "grey," rather than automatically labelling a person directly black or white. 

"Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law Online."Pathological Lying Revisited. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Dec. 2015.

"Natural Science" Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com, n.d. Web. 22 Nov. 2015.
"The Neuropsychological Correlates of Pathological Lying: Evidence from."Behavioral Variant Frontotemporal Dementia. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Dec. 2015.

Social Science Knowledge

         

               In this week's class, we discussed the various reasons why a person can be considered as bad and the reasons behind it. Many students, myself included, agree that whatever the reason is that makes a human being bad is also because of society and the situations in life that a person can be put in. Humans, especially at a young age, can be easily influenced to do bad things because of their life situation, but does that necessarily make them a bad person?

            For example, if a teen student were accidentally pregnant and all of a sudden had to support her child all on her own, is it bad that she steals? On one side, we can see that the student is pursuing these actions merely to support another human being so that that human being can have the proper care to stay alive and well. But on the other side, stealing is against the law and someone who does it can be considered as not having morals. So which is it? We come to realize that a person is not just simply black or white, but there is the binary bind that is just in the middle, perhaps grey. It's easy to simply automatically assume a person is bad, but there are always reasons to the story behind the bad action that can actually change one's perspective to think that possibly, the person is doing good. 

            Let's discuss the topic of bullying for instance. Based off of prior knowledge, readings, and class discussions, bullying is something that can be easily started in childhood, and instead of automatically assuming the child is bad because he/she is a bully, let's take a look at the big question, why? Why is a child being a bully? At a young age, children can be put into situations that cause them to make bad choices. The many factors and situations that can cause them can vary from having a bad relationship with their family at home to simply standing up for themselves to cover up the fact that they are insecure deep down, so they put other people down to make themselves feel better. According to the experimental research conducted by social scientists and doctors in Parental Characteristics Associated With Bullying Perpetration in US Children Aged 10 to 17 Years called, The 2007 National Survey of Children's Health (NSCH) from April 2007 to July 2008, 91,642 interviewees were asked about their relationships with their children and the results indicated that a bad parent to child relationship caused a more likelihood of the child becoming a bully. In this case, it's hard to solely blame the child for acting up in school because their at-home relationship makes matters worse.

          Both of the reasons seem understandable because many of us have probably felt that way or knew other people who have. Although the child still should have full control on the choices they make, it's often hard to when you're stuck in a bad situation. After familiarizing with the fact that a great deal of the situations aren't entirely the individual's, or, the child's fault, we can see that perhaps the black is actually grey and isn't completely bad anymore. 

       

             However, there are other instances where even the individual does not have any control of his/her actions or choices, for example, the mentally ill. Although they are still human, they often times lack the ability to control their actions, which causes them to lash out and act up under any circumstance. We've seen people with mental disorders in movies, but often times they act as serial killers and is the reason why society views all mentally ill individuals as dangerous or bad. As stated in the article, Media Portrayal of Mental Illness and its Treatments, "by the time American children begin school, they will already have spent the equivalent of 3 school years watching television. Thus, by the time
they reach adulthood, they will have ‘witnessed’ untold numbers of media murders the majority of people with a mental illness." This causes for the mentally ill to be depicted as bad or dangerous people and while children are young, they will have grown up to think that all mentally ill are this

way. It is maybe why the mentally ill act up and are encouraged to behave the way they do because society depicts them in such a negative way that they are always shunned and frowned upon by the public. It is my own mere true belief that the mentally ill are not bad people because they simply are unable to control how they react to certain situations, even if they tried. We brought up the idea that what if the mentally ill commit murder, is he or she a bad person? I believe that it isn't their fault that unfortunately they encountered this disorder and that they are not fully to blame. If they committed murder then the action itself is bad, however, the individual is not. When they lash out and kill someone, it doesn't mean they intend on hurting anyone, it can be that they don't know how to react to something that causes them fear or distress.

          Whatever it may be, the situation and society are to blame for the reason why humans are bad. Although sometimes they have a choice on how they might want to act or behave, it is society and the situations they are put in, that pushes them over the edge and leads them to be categorized as "bad."


"Media Portrayal of Mental Illness and Its Treatments." - Springer. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Dec. 2015.

Shetgiri, Rashmi, Hua Lin, Rosa M. Avila, and Glenn Flores. "Parental Characteristics Associated With Bullying Perpetration in US Children Aged 10 to 17 Years." American Journal of Public Health. American Public Health Association, n.d. Web. 08 Dec. 2015.