We applaud an asshole that jumps an asshole.

[Kai]

And so do toddlers.

She worked with 64 babies, and showed them a video of a duck hand puppet as it tried to get at a rattle inside a box. This protagonist was aided by a helpful elephant puppet that lifted the lid (first video), but hindered by an antisocial elephant that jumped on the lid and slammed it shut (second video). Next, the babies saw the two elephants playing with a ball and dropping it. Two moose puppets entered the fray – one (the 'Giver') would return the ball to the elephant (third video), and the other (the 'Taker') would steal it away (fourth video). The babies were then given a choice between the two moose.

Hamlin found that over three-quarters of the five-month-old babies preferred the Giver moose, no matter whether it returned the ball to the helpful elephant or the antisocial one. They were following a simple rule: "helpful moose = good moose". But the eight-month-old babies were savvier. They largely preferred the Giver moose when it was aiding the helpful elephant, but they chose the Taker when it was took the antisocial elephant's ball..

Videos in the article. Because I know you want to see this.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

If you saw someone punching a stranger in the street, you might think poorly of them. But if you found out that the stranger had slept with the assailant's partner, had kicked a kitten, or was Justin Bieber, you might think differently about the situation. You might even applaud the punch-thrower.

Laughed out loud at this.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

That was an awesome article and really interesting, because it shows that we are born with an innate desire to be helpful, and that we have to learn to be bad.

Also, that we are born with an inexplicable ability to empathize with vaguely animal-shaped anthropomorphized plush hand puppets.

[Placid Dingo]

This is my problem with Satanists, Randians and basically anyone else who tries to rationalize away morality. We were designed this way; anything else is a dumb abstinence only education in terms of trying to fight our fundamental nature.