The Science of Evil On Empathy and the Origins of Cruelty
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THE SCIENCE OF EVIL
ON EMPATHY AND THE ORIGINS OF CRUELTY
Simon Baron-CohenProfessor, Developmental Psychopathology
Departments of Experimental Psychology and PsychiatryUniversity of Cambridge
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WHY DO PEOPLE HAVE A LACK OF EMPATHY? Four kinds of conditions in people
exhibit lack of empathy Psychopathy Narcissim Autism Asperger Syndrome
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BARON-COHEN Evil and Cruelty are the result of Lack of
Empathy Not the result of theological category of
‘sin’ Not the result of an incarnate evil-
i.e.‘devil’ Not purely the result of social disorder
or environment Not purely the result of a physical
condition Reflect variety of categories and
associations
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THE EMPATHY CIRCUIT Six Levels of Empathy, based on
Empathy Quotient Questionnaire MRI evidence of regions of brain
operative in empathy—ten in all:Medial prefontal cortex (comparing
oneself with others)Orbitofrontal cortex ( social
judgement, socially disoriented Frontal operculum (Language
processing)
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THE EMPATHY CIRCUIT (CONT’D) Inferior frontal gyrus (emotional
recognition) Caudal anterior cingulate cortex and
anterior insula (pain matrix-both personal and observing)
Temporoparietal junction (intentions and beliefs)
Superior Temporal Sulcus (judging someone’s direction of looking)
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THE EMPATHY CIRCUIT (CONT’D) Somatosensory Cortex (coding sensory
experience) Inferior Parietal Lobule, Inferior Parietal
Sulcus( Actions & response recording ‘mirror’ neurons)
Amygdala (emotional learning and regulation)
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ZERO-NEGATIVE (NOTHING POSITIVE TO RECOMMEND) Personality Disorder Borderline: Type B-
Extreme saying destructive things to others (Marilyn Monroe)
Psychopath: Type P- Total detachment from other’s feelings...cold, calculating, completely selfish
Narcissistic: Type N- Total entitlement of self, ‘using’ others, discarding those ‘useless’
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ZERO-POSITIVE Asperger Syndrome (Avoidance of the
social, loneliness, patterning obsession) Autism (Underactivity in Empathy,
without words for emotions, systemitizers to the extreme, innovators)
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GENETIC EVIDENCE Aggressiveness Gene: MAOA-H ‘Warrior
Gene’ Emotional Recognition: 1. Serotonin
transporter (SLC6A4) 2. Arginine Vasopressin Receptor (AVPR1A) Autism-linked, fear and anger)
Empathy Gene (Several Genes involved)
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QUESTIONS Can you develop empathy? If you have none are you necessarily
bad? Can a state be empathetic (i.e. Ban the
death penalty)? Can one be super-empathetic to the
point of being dangerous?
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EVIDENCE NOT CONSIDERED Daniel Frankfurter: Evil Incarnate:
Rumors of Demonic Conspiracy and Ritual Abuse in History. Princeton, 2006.
Social Construction of Evil: Endorsed in Rituals of Political, and Religious Intent
No Notion of Cruelty Universal, it is all constructed locally and from local social and psychological conditions
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EVIDENCE NOT CONSIDERED Why is the demonic, the chaotic, the
marginal regarded cross-culturally as “a realm”?
Why is the definition of evil often in the hand of “authorities”...prophets, presidents, popes?
What role does ‘fear’ play in definitions of cruelty, and evil?
What role does conspiracy play in the meaning of evil?
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CRITIQUES OF BARON-COHEN Difficulties with his ‘measurement’ of
empathy. Extensive cognitive location of empathy
raises critical questions about ‘the circuitry’ ideology
Are cruelty, evil, lack of empathy, etc. one and the same set of phenomena?
Are there differences between personal lack of empathy and the social perception of evil?
Why is evil behaviour apparently limited in time and scope?
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CONTACT INFORMATIONEarle Waugh, Ph.D.Director, Centre for the Cross-
Cultural Study of Health and Healing
Department of Family MedicineUniversity of [email protected]