Recently, I read a Dutch interview with Julia Shaw, forensic psychologist, following the release of her 2018 book Making Evil: The Science Behind Humanity’s Dark Side (Guardian). This interview got quite a lot of criticism on Facebook and for a good reason.
Unfortunately, Ms Shaw combines evil from (i) psychopaths and/or sociopaths, and (ii) extreme beliefs (eg, jihadism, white supremacy). Nevertheless, lust-based murders feel very different in nature than murders through mass shootings at concert halls (eg, Bataclan theatre in Paris) and/or mosques (eg, Christchurch mosque in New Zealand).
They feel different because they are different. In 2017, I read a Dutch interview with the German philosopher Bettina Stangneth on her 2016 book Thinking evil. Essentially, she claims that evil is not a departure from reasonable thinking but a consequence of (human) thinking. Hence, defining the type of evil is dependent on the stage of life we are in: Needs, Wants or Beliefs (my blogs).
Pure evil is primarily lust-based and not restricted to human beings. Dutch primatologist and ethologist Frans de Waal witnessed pure evil in chimpanzees like Passion, Pom and Puist. Another animal known for lust-based killings is the killer whale (eg, Atlantic-2013). Lust-based evil in animals would match a need to kill or a want to kill – not a belief in killing.
However, some humans tend to combine all 3 stages: pure lust-based evil as well as extreme philosophical beliefs towards the victims, like hatred for women a.k.a. misogyny. Such beliefs might even be a (moral) “justification” for evil deeds. In other words: evil is not a departure from reasonable thinking but a consequence of (human) thinking.
Following the above, mass shootings at concert halls (eg, Bataclan theatre in Paris) and/or mosques (eg, Christchurch mosque in New Zealand) are the result of extreme beliefs, like jihadism (my blogs) and/or white supremacy (my 2016 blog). There is no (lust-based) need to kill, nor a (lust-based) want to kill, only an extreme (philosophical) belief in killing – usually for the Greater Good (my blogs). Hence, mass shootings are more dangerous than psychopaths.
In her Dutch interview, Ms Shaw believes that evil people can change their beliefs. I know for a fact that changing your beliefs is one of the hardest challenges in life. People will lie and cheat to make you believe that they have changed their beliefs. Only when existing beliefs are broken then they can be replaced by new beliefs (eg, my 2017 blog, NYMag-2007).
“What distinguishes the majority of men from the few is their ability to act according to their beliefs.” A quote by Henry Miller (1891-1980), American writer.
I Don’t Want To Change You (2014) by Damien Rice
artist, lyrics, video, Wiki-1, Wiki-2
I don’t want to change you
I don’t want to change you
I don’t want to change your mind
I just came across a manger
Out among the danger
Somewhere in a stranger’s eye
Note: all markings (bold, italic, underlining) by LO unless stated otherwise
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