Children raised in total isolation tend to suffer severe developmental deficits, and there's no evidence they naturally lie, harm, or manipulate once exposed to others—because they often lack the basic cognitive and social tools to do so.

What Happens to Isolated Children?

Studies of feral or socially isolated children—like Genie (USA, 1970s) or Oxana Malaya (Ukraine, 1990s)—reveal profound impairments:

• Language deficits: Without exposure to speech, children often fail to develop language, even after later intervention.

• Emotional and cognitive delays: Isolation stunts emotional regulation, empathy, and abstract thinking.

• Social dysfunction: These children often struggle to understand norms, relationships, or even basic human interaction.

In short, isolation doesn’t breed cunning—it breeds confusion and dysfunction.

The “Forbidden Experiment”

Psychologists call this the “forbidden experiment” because deliberately isolating a child to test nature vs. nurture is ethically impossible. However, accidental cases (e.g., feral children) suggest that socialization is essential for developing moral reasoning, deception, and manipulation.

• Lying and manipulation require theory of mind—understanding that others have beliefs and intentions—which develops through interaction.

• Harmful behavior may emerge if the child is traumatized or neglected, but it’s not inevitable or innate.

What This Means for the “Irredeemable Evil” Hypothesis

If humans were truly irredeemably evil, we’d expect isolated children to spontaneously lie, harm, and manipulate once exposed to others. But the evidence shows the opposite: without socialization, they often lack the capacity for complex moral or immoral behavior.

This suggests that evil—like goodness—is a learned behavior, shaped by environment, culture, and relationships.