What exactly is evil?
Some people are more fascinated with evil than others. The biggest rage in the office is the series “Dahmer” on Netflix. Everyone has been trying to get me to watch, but I’d be watching solo at home. I don’t necessarily want to see evil or watch it described, but the idea of sociopaths and psychopaths interests me as someone that has a masters in counseling and has dabbled in some abnormal psychology.
I picked up a book at Barnes and Noble a few weeks ago and was finally able to crack it open. Mind you, I haven’t finished it but I found Science of Evil by Simon Baron-Cohen to be a fascinating read so far. The biggest breakthrough was in the terminology itself. He doesn’t use terms like good and evil. Instead he talked about empathy. Some people have a lot of it and some people have a little or zero real empathy.
As someone interested in mental health, this revelation brings a number of questions that I hope he has answers for. For instance, is empathy something innate that some people simply lack or is it something learned from our environment? For instance, he was able to show different parts of the brain and explain what was happening on a physiological level when someone’s empathy was impaired. Can we successfully teach empathy? Can we develop an empathy pill for those that have biological reasons for a lack of empathy?
What strikes me most of all is that terms like “good” and “evil” come with significant value judgments attached. Empathy can be measured. We may not have a perfect measurement, but we can certainly do better than “evil”. One can say that they are doing something for the good of mankind and yet conduct themselves without a shred of human empathy.
Cohen described it like a spotlight. Those that have empathy have two or more spotlights. One is on them and their thoughts and needs. The other spotlight(s) are on others and their thoughts and needs. Those with zero to no empathy have only one spotlight. There are times in all of our lives when we are down to one spotlight. It happens. Something horrible happens or we feel more vulnerable for one reason or another. However, that condition is just temporary. When our lives stabilize or the crisis abates then our empathy returns to normal.
Yet, what we are seeing is an increasing amount of people that are stuck on one spotlight. Again, I wish I knew whether this was learned behavior or somehow organic. What I do know is that this is a more substantial description of potentially dangerous people than simply calling them evil. After all, a person with a single spotlight can seem good as long as their ends seem in line with everyone else’s. When their interests and the interests of others collide then watch out. Until we can get a pill at the local pharmacy we need to make sure we don’t give those folks too much power.
I have known a few people that I would describe as having no empathy/one spotlight. I always tried to steer clear of them. Others have a selective 2nd spotlight- they only care or try to understand those that are like-minded. I suppose in this political climate, I probably exhibit some of that myself (though I do try to understand how/why they are that way). But one thing is clear, TFFG has zero, none, nada empathy. His spotlight is only on himself and was likely that way for most of his life. From what I’ve read about his father, he didn’t fall far from that tree. Classic malignant narcissist.
1Enjoy the remainder of your book and let us know what else you learn that we’d be interested in.
I’ve encountered a few evil (knowingly cruel and destructive) people who had plenty of empathy. But it was somehow twisted and poisoned in them- the result was they could emphasize with the pain/fear/despair they were causing, and they found it very pleasurable.
I’m really horrified at the many TV shows glorifying psychopaths. “Dexter” for one: I am sure that name was based upon Dahlmer’s name. And the character “House” was just a better. The brief “Sherlock” series claimed that Holmes was a “high functioning sociopath”, and presented him as the ultimate in romantic and sexy.
The corporate media have made grotesque and dangerous personalities seem romantic, sexy. Not the first time: witness their romanticization of gangsters, and then look at a real gangster, say, Trump!
2“Until we can get a pill at the local pharmacy we need to make sure we don’t give those folks too much power.”
Someone who cares only about themselves would not even realize the need for a pill, were it available.
3Granny Weatherwax, in Terry Pratchett’s Diskworld books had it.
4“Evil starts when you begin to treat people as things”
Lol empathy pill, I wish! And yes, you can teach empathy in schools!
Good topic and I could go on and on about the Carnal Self and the Spiritual Self inside all of us but this metaphor sums it up nicely …
“One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people.
He said, “My son, the battle is between
two “wolves” inside us all.
One is Evil.
It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.
The other is Good.
It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith.”
The grandson thought about it for a minute
and then asked his grandfather:
“Which wolf wins?”
The old Cherokee simply replied,
“The one you feed.”
― Cherokee Metaphor
5“Until we can get a pill at the local pharmacy we need to make sure we don’t give those folks too much power.”
We have already done that, and it didn’t work out well. We will be suffering the consequences for some time yet.
6I’d recommend the book The Psychopath Test if you’re interested in people who seem “not quite right.” It did note the 95% of sociopaths are in jail and the other 5% run major corporations!
7lex @4, The old Cherokee’s metaphor overlooks the fact that of nearly all animals, you don’t feed wolves.
Wolves feed themselves as they wish, as apex predators.
Republicans are inelegant apex political predators, always ready to make an easy meal of anything around that they can sink a tooth into. You’re, we’re all on their menu…
.
I damned sure hope that I’m wrong, but the Texass Rethuglikans seem on the brink of flipping the majority of Hispanic Texas voters.
Judging from the usually biased local teevee news segments, and huge quantities of totally deceptive and lie-filled Rethug political adverts flooding the airwaves it certainly looks that way.
The Texas Democrats are fielding fairly feeble responses, although the DCCC has been putting out some hard-hitting anti-Rethug ads. Problem is, they almost never mention the Democrat running for the same seat.
My own South Texas area was gerrymandered from a solid Blue House district [28th, Henry Cuellar’s, what else; yeah he sucks burro balls, —but he’s a “D”–, no matter what y’all think] into a new Red +5 one that looks like it’s going to the dark side, the formerly Blue 15th.
The 15th has actually already flipped Red, —while the boundaries were still heavily Blue—, with Rethug Mayra Flores winning a special election and taking the seat in June. The Democrats at every level —just let that f’ing happen—, through gross ineptitude or whatever.
All of our South Texas ‘fajita strip’ [narrow ~250mi long by as small as 15 miles wide in places] districts have been rep-adjusted to facilitate the swing to the Red side, which the Hispanic voters seem to be doing.
You Dems may have a very rude awakening on November 9th.
The overwhelming ASSumption that the Hispanic voters belong to the Democrats is long wrong.
https://ballotpedia.org/Redistricting_in_Texas_after_the_2020_census
8I’ve been trying to think of a way to use the spotlight analogy to illustrate what I think repugnantcans have done so effectively.
9Which is to pervert the empathy of so many.
I believe most magas do have both spotlights.
But so many of em have been convinced that anybody remotely liberal are the baby Jesus eating spawn of Satan.
So these folks’ other spotlight shows “others” as demonic enemies.
I believe true psychopaths wouldn’t see evil enemies.
Only rivals.
It takes empathy to hate.
If you pervert somebody’s spotlight to show them enemies, the spotlight’s still there.
But it sure as hell ain’t doing what it oughta do.
It’s making the self spotlight expand to include people who claim to be in the tribe, empathizing with folks theyda never dreamed of if their perception hadn’t been so colossally f**ked up.
But that’s just my opinion and I’m just as full of shit as anybody else.
Want to see real evil look at the 1%-ers and the rePUKEian aholes and the evilgenitals that are pushing them. Jeffrey Damore?? he is nothing compared to them.
10Apropos The Psychopath Test. Richard Hare (his book, Without Conscience, is a good read) argues it’s genetic and that trying to teach empathy to such a person just makes them a better psychopath; using Nick’s analogy, these people just HAVE one spotlight. With a narcissist, which is a personality disorder and the result of environment, you can teach empathy.
11An article in Scientific American Oct 4. 2013, suggests that Reading Literary Fiction Improves Empathy. The types of books we read may affect how we relate to others. As an avid reader, I tend to agree.
12“I don’t necessarily want to see evil or watch it described”
That self-sabotaging mentality is exactly the major reason WHY human evil is everywhere … https://www.rolf-hefti.com/covid-19-coronavirus.html
“Separate what you know from what you THINK you know.” — Unknown
13Sandridge @8 Thanks!
14Though who am I to question an old Cherokee’s wisdom.
Hermite: I think reading (except for bumper sticker slogans and twitter) is dying off. What’s replaced it is endless amounts of television, to the point where it’s difficult to find even public places without one blaring loudly. And unlike TV shows, any thoughtful reading will enhance empathy; the reader has to supply much that an author cannot explicitly show or describe in detail.
Nick’s description of his book has some interesting ideas. As for defining evil, I follow a paraphrased Supreme Court ruling: I cannot define it, but know it when I see it.
15Tian: Not wanting to drench my mind in this is not selective ignorance. I’m a survivor of sexual and mental abuse, and I already know watching something like this will seriously trigger my PTSD. Survivors are acutely aware that people like this exist; we just don’t choose to give them our energy.
16The problem with using the term “evil” is that “evil” is a religious term, not a psychological or sociological one.
Thus, a religious person can describe Jeffery Dahlmer as “evil” because he killed a bunch of people, and me as “evil” because I am an atheist. (And there are plenty of religious people who to this day equate atheists with serial killers.)
I imagine the author of the book doesn’t use “good” or “evil” for the same reason.
17More bad news about the ascendance of Rethugism among the Texas Hispanic vote, and confirmation of my comment #8 above [albeit very hedging and restrained, in the usual journalistic manner]:
San Antonio Report:
Analysis: Republicans gained ground in Bexar County in 2020 among Hispanic voters, by Waylon Cunningham, October 23, 2022
https://sanantonioreport.org/analysis-republicans-hispanic-voters-bexar-county-2/
“…and many of her neighbors on Palfrey Avenue are drifting toward the Republican Party — a pattern seen across the nation among working-class Latinos. If Republicans continue to make inroads in these Latino communities, analysts say they have the potential to reshape the national political landscape in the same way that working class white voters flocked to the Republican coalition in the Reagan years.
Down south, the Rio Grande Valley’s tectonic shift toward Republicans — allowing the party to take Zapata County for the first time since Reconstruction, after the Civil War — was one of the biggest political stories of 2020….”
Wake up y’all…
18Yikes! This was way too close to home, the Mango Mussolini had one of his MAGAot rallies not too far away last night, in lovely Robstown, TX. [/s]
The Rufous Ratbastard was joined by Paxton, Patrick, Pillowman, and a number of other Rethuglikan SOBs.
Can’t find any crowd numbers but it looked like quite a few STX Trumpanzees showed up [my neighbors were chatting it up].
Venue holds all of 2900, looks like a bunch of outsiders were brought in too, per the Austin American-Statesman.
FYI, Robstown is 94%+ Hispanic, with a 44% poverty rate, pop ~11K and declining [used to sometimes work there and around the area; the few, but dominant, Anglos had a strong ‘plantation mentality’].
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robstown,_Texas
RufRat did a flyover in the refurbished 757 too…
https://www.statesman.com/story/news/2022/10/22/live-follow-donald-trump-rally-robstown-texas/69571602007/
https://www.valleycentral.com/news/local-news/trump-discusses-immigration-drug-trafficking-along-southern-border-at-robstown-rally/
https://www.newsweek.com/why-donald-trump-heading-robstown-texas-rally-1754049
“Robstown was likely chosen as a destination because at least two South Texas congressional districts that have been Democratic strongholds for generations are considered to be in play.”
[23 [flippableR], & 28, 15, 34[now R, Flores], 27[R] are our fajita districts]
“Though Robstown is not in either of those districts, the event is close enough to potentially affect those races, said Laine Shay, an associate professor of politics at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi.”
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