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Psychology, Research, The Brain

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Are You Good or Evil?

What makes us good or evil? It’s a simple but deeply unsettling question. One that scientists are now starting to answer. Horizon meets the researchers who have studied some of the most terrifying people behind bars – psychopathic killers.

But there was a shock in store for one of these scientists, Professor Jim Fallon, when he discovered that he had the profile of a psychopath. And the reason he didn’t turn out to be a killer holds important lessons for all of us.

We meet the scientist who believes he has found the moral molecule and the man who is using this new understanding to rewrite our ideas of crime and punishment.

Released 7 Sep, 2011. 60 min. Director: Nicola Stockley. TV documentary.

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  • Grant

    I am troubled by the implications of society’s use regarding chemical/moral componants. Since many populations of prisoners are given chemicals to control their behavior, the logical result of how to treat an ‘evil molecule’ is evident in theoretical practice. What worries me though, is applying current pharmaceutical business practices to this research: will there soon be a huge push to sell millions of ‘morality pills’ to our population? Will parents be advised to pre-empt evil behavior by buying and dosing their developing children? Will police pharmacies start carrying an injection that a prisoner is forced to accept just as they must certain accept certain chemical control now?
    We know business is rarely moral on large scales. Will the acts of marketing and profiting from sales of a morality substance be done morally?

  • awful_truth

    A good documentary. In the end, it is only logical to conclude that pyscopathy is a combination of genetics and environment. For those who question whether such things as good and evil exist, (and what that is) may I suggest an easy way to identify evil. In my opinion, all people have the potential for good or evil actions, (no question they exist) it is identifiying them with certainty that is the problem, and here is the solution.
    We acquire physical strength from the resistance of gravity. Some people would extend this argument that morality is acquired from the resistance caused by immorality.(evil actions) I say draw the parallel, and ask the question, is gravity evil? I can answer this with a resounding NO. The reason gravity isn’t evil is because it effects everyone equally. (what a qauint idea) Man made rules are seldom equitable, making evil easy to identify. (inequity) We all have different levels of strength, intelligence, and financial postion in life. It is the explotation and subjugation over others who have less then we do in these different areas that is evil. Some would have you believe they are clever because they utilize their strength over others. The root cause of these actions are based in your seven deadly sins that we all hear about.(pride, sloth, envy, ect. – no religious connotations intended)
    If everyone applied this to all aspects of life, they would easily identify those with immoral intentions,(evil) critical thinking would rule the day, and brainwashing and indoctrination would be minimized. The banking and corporate world wouldn’t be robbing everyone blind, the American public wouldn’t have supported the attack of Iraq,(for oil) and those who were persecuted by the Nazi’s and fled to create Israel couldn’t have stolen the homes from the Palestinians who had built them, and justified it as acceptable. Those who don’t learn from history are condemned to repeat it.(almost everyone) Recently, I watched a documentary on the 3rd Reich where Nazi propaganda films were making statements like, ‘ the greatest threat to the German people are the Polish terrorists ‘. (sound familiar???) Here we are 70 years later, and nothing has changed because people refuse to acknowledge(apathy) their actions for what they really are. With that said, if we can’t see it in ourselves, no doubt we won’t see it from those who would manipulate us for their own ends.(Hitler, Stalin, Bush, Cheney, Ted Bundy – same crap, different pile) The bottom line is this. Anything worth having does not come easy. For evil to be sidelined instead of running the show like it always has, calls for endless vigilance. The second anyone drops their guard, the people with evil intentions will be there waiting to exploit it! This is not clever, it is just evil, but the second you call someone on it, wait and see the list of excuses they use to justify why they deserve more than they have, (especially if they haven’t actually earned it – sloth) or why they deserve more than they need. (greed)
    Live long and prosper everyone.