“Dad, are some people born to be bad?”

I try not to clog my blog with lots of reminders about how amazingly smart my kid is, but we had a discussion today about – basically – free will and determinism. Now, before you worry too much, I think there were also some mentions of Kirby and Nyan Cat in there, but… yeah. That conversation happened. With my five year old. A five year old capable of handling philosophical abstracts that I almost have to stop the car and pull over so I can take a moment to formulate a cogent response.

My answer? Who we are is determined by what we are taught and how we are raised, what happens to us and around us, and how we decide to respond to all of the above. No one is born bad or evil. If more people would respond to what happens to and around them with grace, dignity, fairness and compassion, and an understanding that consequences follow any decision – even good ones – the world might be a better place.

And the thing is… he understands this. Hey, this kid has been raised by me. He has vocabulary.

Then we got back to discussing which of our cats could by Nyan Cat in real life. Let’s see… a cat who flies through the air farting rainbows, with a pop tart around its neck? I think there’s really only one answer.