This is a VERY thought-provoking read ~ since we are all products of our environments, I have trouble believing some people are born "evil" ~ but I do believe some people are exposed to "evil" from birth on, which could become their "norm" if "evil" is all they see/hear ~ there are several "live links" to more/corroborating info in the original ~ Sooz

Wednesday, Oct 30, 2013 07:00 AM CDT
Belief in Satan helps explain Antonin Scalia
Research suggests those who believe in the existence of pure evil tend to support harsher punishments for crimes.
By Piercarlo Valdesolo

This article was originally published by Scientific American.

Justice Antonin Scalia and Keyser Soze agree: the greatest trick the devil could ever pull is convincing the world he didn’t exist. Fortunately for them, the devil does not seem to be effectively executing this plan. Some 70 percent of Americans, according to a 2007 Gallup Poll, believe in his existence. This personification of evil has implications beyond the supernatural, influencing how we think about what it means for people to be “pure evil.” And as we prepare to playfully celebrate the wicked and depraved on Halloween night, it’s worth pausing to reflect on some of the psychological and behavioral consequences of these beliefs.

Evil has been defined as taking pleasure in the intentional inflicting of harm on innocent others, and ever since World War II social psychologists have been fascinated by the topic. Many of the formative thinkers in the field — Kurt Lewin, Stanley Milgram , Solomon Asch — were inspired by their experiences with, and observations of, what appeared to most people at the time to be the indisputable incarnation of pure evil. But what many saw as a clear demonstration of unredeemable and deep-seated malice, these researchers interpreted as more, in the words of Hannah Arendt, banal. From Milgram’s famous studies of obedience to Zimbardo’s prison study, psychologists have argued for the roots of evil actions in quite ordinary psychological causes. This grounding of evil in ordinary, as opposed to extraordinary, phenomena have led some to describe the notion of “pure evil” as a myth. A misguided understanding of human nature deriving both from specific socio-cultural traditions as well as a general tendency to understand others’ behavior as a product solely of their essence, their soul, as opposed to a more complicated combination of environmental and individual forces.

The issue of whether “pure evil” exists, however, is separate from what happens to our judgments and our behavior when we believe in its existence. It is this question to which several researchers have recently begun to turn. How can we measure people’s belief in pure evil (BPE) and what consequences does such a belief have on our responses to wrong-doers?

According to this research, one of the central features of BPE is evil’s perceived immutability. Evil people are born evil – they cannot change. Two judgments follow from this perspective: 1) evil people cannot be rehabilitated, and 2) the eradication of evil requires only the eradication of all the evil people. Following this logic, the researchers tested the hypothesis that there would be a relationship between BPE and the desire to aggress towards and punish wrong-doers.

Researchers have found support for this hypothesis across several papers containing multiple studies, and employing diverse methodologies. BPE predicts such effects as: harsher punishments for crimes (e.g. murder, assault, theft), stronger reported support for the death penalty, and decreased support for criminal rehabilitation. Follow-up studies corroborate these findings, showing that BPE also predicts the degree to which participants perceive the world to be dangerous and vile, the perceived need for preemptive military aggression to solve conflicts, and reported support for torture.

Regardless of whether the devil actually exists, belief in the power of human evil seems to have significant and important consequences for how we approach solving problems of real-world wrongdoing. When we see people’s antisocial behavior as the product of an enduring and powerful malice, we see few options beyond a comprehensive and immediate assault on the perpetrators. They cannot be helped, and any attempts to do so would be a waste of time and resources.

But if we accept the message from decades of social psychological research, that at least some instances of violence and malice are not the result of “pure evil” — that otherwise decent individuals can, under certain circumstances, be compelled to commit horrible acts, even atrocities — then the results of these studies serve as an important cautionary tale. The longer we cling to strong beliefs about the existence of pure evil, the more aggressive and antisocial we become. And we may be aggressing towards individuals who are, in fact, “redeemable.” Individuals who are not intrinsically and immutably motivated by the desire to intentionally cause harm to others. That may be the greatest trick the devil has ever pulled.

http://www.salon.com/2013/10/30/belief_in_satan_helps_explain_antonin_scalia_partner/

Interesting. There are some people who cannot be rehabilitated, imho, but the number is low. Generally, I think the way we treat those people who do heinous things actually reinforces hatred and desire to harm or seek revenge.

It fascinates me when the very young are perceived as evil or unredeemable. I have seen cases of three year olds and five year old who do very mean and harmful things to people and animals without any remorse, who seem unable to empathize in any way, and who have no regard for others. It is especially fascinating because children this young are developmentally not able to execute some of the thinking or understanding needed to empathize or feel remorse, yet only a very small number of children seem to have these characteristics. I really wonder how the reactions and messages they get from their caregivers translates to their continuing to develop the harmful behaviors. I'm sure someone could put together a meaningful research project on this.

We will never be able to fully understand the brain. I, too, have seen some very young people that can do horrible things with no remorse. I have no doubt that there is some chemical or flaw that can mess up the part of the brain involving guilt, remorse, conscience etc.

I sometimes use the word evil. Of course, I do not mean the devil made them do it. A devil doesn't cause bad any more than a god causes good. We have to be very careful here because evil is not seen the same by everyone. Some say homosexuals are evil, Obama is evil, etc. I've been called evil before more than once. One time it was because I was in a rescue raft during floods and picked up two little black kids before I picked up a white guy and his hound dog.

I think there are some who are born with some kind of condition in their brain that makes them a dager to society as they get older. As queen says, the number is very low. The hope would be that someday soon we will be able to find out what causes this and maybe fix it.

I sometimes use the word evil. Of course, I do not mean the devil

That's why I'm having a difficult time with the entire premise of the OP. lol "Evil" is not an outside entity.
All I'm getting is Flip Wilson...

Flip Wilson and the devil made me do it was the best. Ha.

the greatest trick the devil could ever pull is convincing the world he didn’t exist.

I prefer:

The greatest trick a religious con-man could pull is convincing the world the Devil did exist.

I do believe that some people were just born mean.

I have given more thought to my earlier post and I was trying to think of examples in the animal kingdom of members of communal species becoming destructive and a threat to the population. I cannot think of any examples.

I also began to think about disturbed attachment in the very young. (as a contributor toward the behavior I was talking about) I remember interviewing mothers who would say their infant or toddler was mean, that the child looked at them funny, that the child hated them, that there was something wrong with their baby.

I don't think evil exists as an entity to be feared and avoided, but it can be a useful adjective.

Its pretty clear that there are some forms of brain dysfunction which can contribute to psychopathic behaviour http://www.kcl.ac.uk/iop/news/records/2 ... brain.aspx
but like all areas of nature/nurture interaction its rarely (if ever) a 1:1 correlation.

The key aspect seems to be a lack of empathy - the inability to "put yourself is someone else's shoes" - but that can be affected by the history of individuals as well as their biology. And the mix is never clear-cut.

And, while I'm not sure that it makes much sense to try and apply human moral precepts to other species, what about the case of newly dominant male lions who systematically kill all the cubs in a pride that might have been sired by there predecessor? Or what about the many example of cannibalism in the animal world.

Even in the plant kingdom a case could be made. A strangler fig survives and prospers by killing another plant, and what about the many introduced species which can essentially take over whole regions, like the kudzu in the southern USA or prickly pear in Australia?

Dogs have a pack behavior that resembles the lion example too, but I think those behaviors and cannibalism are survival rituals, rather than an example of the species behaving outside of acceptable social norms for their community.

I definitely agree that the lack of empathy is a major factor in the kind of behavior we are discussing. I wonder if we can figure out why that is missing in these people. Is it genetic? Is there some ingredient or process missing in the perpetrators? Or is it learned and developed in some way, ? Can we disrupt it, even if it manifests in very young children?

Fetal alcohol syndrome kids often show lack of empathy, seem to have lack of conscience as they develop.

True of neonatal abstinence syndrome babies, abused or neglected babies too. Attachment disorders are formed because some neural pathways have to spark during sensitive periods in a child's life or they will never spark. Hence lack of empathy and attachment disorders develop. (That part of the brain isn't turned on)

I don't believe in evil.

Attachment disorders are definitely factors in most instances. There are however many cases where it is not clear that the attachment process was disrupted. I wonder though about cases like the Sandy Hook shooter, where autism or Aspberger's syndrome are implicated, if that can be considered a disrupted attachment process- people get awfully defensive when we start talking about attachment and autism together.

We know a 12 year old boy diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. His father jumped off of a building in Ocean City to his death in July. The boy and his father appeared close in life, but the boy has not shed a tear nor outwardly seemed to miss his father.

His mother however is in mourning and does not get out of bed in the morning to help the boy get off to school. The truant officer at the school is picking him up daily. I think this is a tragedy in the making.

Kathy: I don't believe in evil.

Do you believe in good?

I believe in evil, but not as some entity independent from humanity.

While its an overused word, there's little doubt that some people are evil ... not just "very bad".

I have a friend who equates "evil" with "motiveless malignancy". Its not just doing horrible things, its doing them for no apparent purpose.
His example is Iago in "Othello". That might seem a bit strange, because Iago gives us many "reasons" for destroying Othello and Desdemona, but that's his point. Iago has "too many" reasons. So many in fact that none of them are actually convincing. He destroys simply to destroy.

Maybe a better example might be Stalin (Hitler is a different case altogether). He would quite often have lavish parties where he would get particularly friendly with someone. The next morning they would be shot. It seems that he did it for no other reason than he could ....

61% of American's believe in the fiery one, according to a study done by the University of Chicago center for religious studies.

That scares the shit out of me.

I don't think people are possessed by the devil - meaning born evil or
possessed by God - meaning born without flaw.

I think babies are born with programming on their brains and they pick up additional programming as they go along. All men are not created equal.

I do believe in good. People are born needing love, needing to love and be loved. Most of us develop powerful empathy, and that propels us toward kindness. I don't know why it is that way. Maybe an evolutionary trait that improves chances of survival of the species. It allows us to apprehend and appreciate the concept of fairness, and that points our society in the direction of humane law, even though as individuals it may at times be in our immediate interest to lie, cheat, steal and kill.

That how I define good.