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SUMMARY:Evilicious: Why we evolved a taste for being bad - Marc Hauser
DTSTART:20140311T181500Z
DTEND:20140311T191500Z
UID:TALK51335@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Bert Vaux
DESCRIPTION:It is a fact that humans destroy the lives of other humans -- 
 strangers\, friends\, lovers\, and kin -- and have been doing so for a lon
 g time. These cases are unsurprising and easily explained: We harm others 
 when it benefits us directly\, fighting to win resources or wipe out the c
 ompetition. In this sense we are no different from any other social animal
 . The mystery is why seemingly normal people torture\, mutilate\, and kill
  others for the fun of it -- or for no apparent benefit at all. Why did we
 \, alone among the social animals\, develop an appetite for gratuitous cru
 elty? This is the core problem of evil. It is a problem that has engaged s
 cholars for centuries and is the central topic of this book. In this talk\
 , I provide a novel explanation for why some individuals engage in evil an
 d why we uniquely evolved this capacity: Evildoers emerge when unsatisfied
  desires combine with the denial of reality\, enabling individuals to enga
 ge in gratuitous cruelty toward innocent victims. This simple recipe is pa
 rt of human nature\, and part of our brain's uniquely evolved capacity to 
 combine different thoughts and emotions. The implications are\, I believe\
 , unsettling: due to individual differences that begin with our biology\, 
 and can be enhanced by certain environments\, seemingly normal people are 
 capable of causing horrific harms\, feeling rewarded and justified or noth
 ing at all.
LOCATION:Yusuf Hamied Theatre\, Christ's College
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