Community Chat

[itiswhatitis]

Evil = hatred.  If one can "hate" then they certainly have the capability to be evil.

My opinion.......

In addition, some forms of mental illness do in fact have a genetic link or predisposition.  Some diagnoses run in families.

[mistriTsquirrel]

---

@itiswhatitis wrote:

“You’re doomed! What you’ve got now — that’s it,” is the answer Brian Little — a lecturer in psychology at the University of Cambridge, whose new book, Me, Myself, And Us: The Science of Personality and the Art of Well-Being touches on this question — gave me, and he was only half-joking. “At least, William James would’ve said that.” 

James is the groundbreaking Harvard psychologist whose 1890 text The Principles of Psychology is thought to be the first time modern psychology observed the idea that personality settles down, or stabilizes, in adulthood. “In most of us, by the age of thirty, the character has set like plaster, and will never soften again,” reads one of its most quoted lines. 

In the century since James wrote these words, a bulk of empirical evidence has proven him right — to a point. As Little likes to phrase it, it’s more like our personalities are “half-plastered” by the time we enter our fourth decade: Yes, much of the way we behave is influenced by our core personality traits, which, research has shown, have a rather strong genetic component and therefore are pretty stable throughout our lives. And most research, not to mention common sense, suggests that though we change a lot in adolescence and our early twenties, these changes slow down once we enter adulthood But, Little argues, we can also choose to act against our natures. Our basic personality traits don’t really change. But that doesn’t mean we can’t change and behave in ways that are opposite to our true selves, when the situation calls for it. 

http://nymag.com/scienceofus/2014/11/how-much-can-you-really-change-after-30.html

---

@itiswhatitis  I'm assuming this is a response aimed at me, because I'm not sure it's relevant to anyone else's posts.  (?)

I pretty much agree with the underlined portion.

However...

The problem here--with respect to studying violent criminal behavior--is that this is a generalization that applies to most people.  Generalizations about most people may not apply to deviant populations.  Populations of people who deviate from the norm need to be studied separately if you want to find commonalities within them.

[itiswhatitis]

I am in full agreement with what @LilacTree offered.

[LilacTree]

---

@mistriTsquirrel wrote:

---

@LilacTree wrote:

---

@mistriTsquirrel wrote:

---

@goldensrbest wrote:

Yes, evil exits in our world,some people are just born with that in them,some because of other factors turn evil.

---

@goldensrbest  What is evil, in your opinion?  Is it when people are possessed, or is there some degree of choice involved?

---

@mistriTsquirrel

I believe human beings are genetically equipped with character traits that can't be changed.  Often one of those traits is evil (and also narcissism).  Personality can be acquired/changed through life experiences.  But IMO, character cannot be changed.  That doesn't mean evil cannot be committed by someone not born with that trait (as in brainwashing, mob violence), but someone born with that trait cannot avoid committing evil acts.  This can exhibit warning signs in early childhood.

---

@LilacTree Let me preface what I'm about to say by saying that the aggravation you may perceive in this post is not directed at you, but what I'm saying is relevant to what you've said, so...

I also believe that people have certain character traits they cannot change, but how much control they really have over their thoughts and actions is still a controversial issue.  I don't have a hard and fast opinion on it, because I don't think there's enough info available yet.  But I want to know more about why people are acting out and what can be done about it.  If there are physical anomalies in the brain or in the genes, it would be good to know that so we can figure out what to do about it. 

Saying someone did something because they are evil is like saying "we don't know what killed this sleeping baby, so let's just call it a night and write down 'SIDS' on the death certificate."  (Which used to happen a lot, btw.)  It makes everyone feel like things have been resolved, but it does nothing to prevent more babies from dying in their sleep in the future.

There are so many questions, and I'm not willing to dismiss them all by saying the person is just evil or has evil traits.  I want to know why, and I don't think it's okay to stop asking why.  Many years ago, disease was thought to be the result of "evil."  Then we found out that disease can be caused by germs.  Not only did this advance medicine and save lives, but it also helped people who were ill avoid persecution that was based on their perceived "evilness."

People don't seem to understand that the brain is not magical.  It is an organ and it can be studied like one.  We can see some of the things that happen in the brain when thoughts occur.  We know that synapses fire and chemical messengers must be present and in the right quantities if the message is to be effectively relayed to the next neuron.  There are electrical aspects to this process as well.  When you do not have the right chemical balance to relay the message properly between neurons, the process breaks down and the person feels and acts differently.  The fact that we now have some idea what's happening makes it less mystifying.  We know what we know now, because people questioned the assertion that some people are "just evil," or "just lazy," or "just stupid," or "just negative."  If the majority opinion on this thread prevailed, it would set back scientific advances considerably.

At any given time, we can only make judgments based on what we know, but I will not accept an explanation that hampers progress...not just for ill people, but for society as a whole.

---

@mistriTsquirrel

Hi Mistri.  I think perhaps, although we have both been through a lot of negative issues in our lives, that at 79-1/2, it's possible I may have seen more evil, in a personal way, than someone your age.  Four stand out, but there were more on the outskirts, outside of my closest personal relationships, some of whom I have been victimized by because of my lifelong naivete in automatically trusting people.  Many lessons learned, to be sure, and it continues. 

Because we don't know what we don't know, the brain is still a mystery to me.  I have read prolifically about the universe and its beginnings, but that doesn't mean I understand it.  I have also read prolifically about human nature and still don't know if a five-year-old child deliberately kills a small living thing, if that child was born evil, or just didn't know what he/she was doing when he/she pulled the wings off the butterfly, that it would die.  If later on when he/she was ten and tortured a little lost kitten to death . . . I would probably pronounce that child as born evil.  Most serial killers started out torturing and killing animals.

I also stopped reading when I realized that whatever topic I was studying was just someone else's opinion, and I could either embrace it or deny it . . . but most of the time ended up just as confused as I was when I picked up the book in the first place.

Perhaps we will learn these unknowns in the future (not me, but maybe you) but we don't know them now.  What frightens me right now in this technical world we live in is that the innovators are now on the cusp of creating robots that can actually think for themselves . . . and creating them in human form ("60 Minutes" last week) and being excited about it, knowing that this could be an extreme danger as easily as it could be a benefit to human existence.  As always, we are our own worst enemy.

Frankly, I don't think we are that far apart in our thinking.

[goldensrbest]

---

@mistriTsquirrel wrote:

---

@goldensrbest wrote:

Yes, evil exits in our world,some people are just born with that in them,some because of other factors turn evil.

---

@goldensrbest  What is evil, in your opinion?  Is it when people are possessed, or is there some degree of choice involved?

---

---

@mistriTsquirrel wrote:

---

@goldensrbest wrote:

Yes, evil exits in our world,some people are just born with that in them,some because of other factors turn evil.

---

@goldensrbest  What is evil, in your opinion?  Is it when people are possessed, or is there some degree of choice involved?

---

Well,i don't know if there is degrees of evil, i think one would know if a act,or thought was evil ,but yes a normal person has a choice to do evil, but i also think there are people that just have that trait in them.

[LilacTree]

---

@mistriTsquirrel wrote:

---

@itiswhatitis wrote:

“You’re doomed! What you’ve got now — that’s it,” is the answer Brian Little — a lecturer in psychology at the University of Cambridge, whose new book, Me, Myself, And Us: The Science of Personality and the Art of Well-Being touches on this question — gave me, and he was only half-joking. “At least, William James would’ve said that.” 

James is the groundbreaking Harvard psychologist whose 1890 text The Principles of Psychology is thought to be the first time modern psychology observed the idea that personality settles down, or stabilizes, in adulthood. “In most of us, by the age of thirty, the character has set like plaster, and will never soften again,” reads one of its most quoted lines. 

In the century since James wrote these words, a bulk of empirical evidence has proven him right — to a point. As Little likes to phrase it, it’s more like our personalities are “half-plastered” by the time we enter our fourth decade: Yes, much of the way we behave is influenced by our core personality traits, which, research has shown, have a rather strong genetic component and therefore are pretty stable throughout our lives. And most research, not to mention common sense, suggests that though we change a lot in adolescence and our early twenties, these changes slow down once we enter adulthood But, Little argues, we can also choose to act against our natures. Our basic personality traits don’t really change. But that doesn’t mean we can’t change and behave in ways that are opposite to our true selves, when the situation calls for it. 

http://nymag.com/scienceofus/2014/11/how-much-can-you-really-change-after-30.html

---

@itiswhatitis  I'm assuming this is a response aimed at me, because I'm not sure it's relevant to anyone else's posts.  (?)

I pretty much agree with the underlined portion.

However...

The problem here--with respect to studying violent criminal behavior--is that this is a generalization that applies to most people.  Generalizations about most people may not apply to deviant populations.  Populations of people who deviate from the norm need to be studied separately if you want to find commonalities within them.

---

@mistriTsquirrel

Just so you know, I draw a distinction between "mentally ill" and "evil."  Someone who is mentally ill is very seldom also evil, even though evil individuals usually meet the criteria of mentally ill.

[Spurt]

---

@golding76 wrote:

When I read about it -- without knowing anything about the vicious person who did the horrific act -- my gut reaction was that this was a "hate crime."  I sincerely hope I am wrong.

---

@golding76

The article said this was prevelant in London and it's gang related......