Evil

The Science Behind Humanity's Dark Side

By: Julia Shaw

Narrated by: Teri Schnaubelt

Length: 7 hrs and 37 mins

Publisher's summary

What is it about evil that we find so compelling? From our obsession with serial killers to violence in pop culture, we seem inescapably drawn to the stories of monstrous acts and the aberrant people who commit them. But evil, Dr. Julia Shaw argues, is all relative, rooted in our unique cultures. What one may consider normal, like sex before marriage, eating meat, or being a banker, others find abhorrent. And if evil is only in the eye of the beholder, can it be said to exist at all? In Evil, Shaw uses case studies from academia, examples from and popular culture, and anecdotes from everyday life to break down complex information and concepts like the neuroscience of evil, the psychology of bloodlust, and workplace misbehavior. This is a wide-ranging exploration into a fascinating, darkly compelling subject.

©2019 Julia Shaw. (P)2018 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Excellent book

Her logic about evil tugs at religious norms about what evil really is , the book makes you look inward at what makes you, you and things and decisions you have made in the past present and future. In The opening she sounded like a lawyer addressing a jury defending the devil asking the question do we really know what evil is?

EXTREMELY THOUGHT PROVOKING

Mentally stimulating and a book that takes the word "evil" and moves it away from thoughts of devils and demons into the realm of understanding our own human behavior and compulsions. The book helps one comprehend that each human is capabale of great deeds of harm, but recognizing our humanity and the slippery side into immorality, one can avoid the group and societal pressures that often cause us to compromise our own morals and ethics.

Awakening

It made me truly stop and rethink everything. What I thought was evil was me being lazy. It made me rethink myself.

A very important book

I feel like this is one of those books all people need to read once in their lives. It is one of those books that can help us open our minds more.
A few times, it felt to me like it didn't go as deep as I'd want into certain subjects, but the vast amount of topics explored allows Dr. Shaw to give readers a quite general argumentation while still discussing specifics of each case. This is a good way to promote self-reflection and encourage curiosity both on explored and non-explored topics, which is part of the book's goal. Moreover, it is quite easy to follow through, and the arguments are well explained.

Interesting but lacks nuance at times

Def an interesting listen but the author clearly has a strong set of beliefs that she argues with at times little evidence to support her claims.

I do in general agree with her point that evil is an illusion but she holds this view so strongly that she at times argues for all actions to be permissible no matter how it affects other people. Her point is definitely to get the reader to question their outlook, which she succeeds in making this a difficult read. Still, I think at times she fell into her own trap, so to speak, and didn’t question her own base assumptions, reaching such an extreme that there is no action any more or less valid than any other action, though of course that is only my own interpretation and I could be missing her point.

Relativism

Nothing is actually evil should be the title of the book. I get her point and she draws interesting arguments but by making everything relative she takes away individual responsibility. Also, although there are many philosophers who wrote about the topic Nietzsche is the only one mentioned.

Been there, heard that

This book didn't have much new information to offer. In fact, I've grown fairly sick of the trolley problem, the prison experiment and the electric shock thing. I also found the narrator irritating.

A Fascinating and Important Book

“Calling people evil is lazy,” “all monsters are human,” “we must never dehumanize each other,” and “we must speak of the unspeakable.”

This book will blow your mind through an unbiased presentation on the science of “evil.” The author details the psychology behind all kinds of people that society would label as f*cked up, allowing us to take a research-based look at the humanity of people that have committed crimes and what drives their behavior.

Between the combination of the unique topic, quantity of surprising insights, scientific approach, personal touch by the author, engaging writing style, and narration quality, this is one of the top 5 audiobooks I’ve listened to out of hundreds.

The book is easily digestible, rather than a stuffy, formulaic approach. I started & finished listening today, and have already recommended it to friends.

Going forward, I will recommend this book every time “evil” comes up in conversation. So, so good. I’m grateful for discovering this book and the author’s significant contribution to our collective understanding of people.

Do yourself a favor and read this book. I cannot imagine a situation where someone would not find value from it. It’s a universally worthwhile investment of time and attention.

Live backwards is....

Evil. The author wasn't pointing out the good apples from the bad. More so the author was trying to shine a light on how we all have the potential to be malignant. How it's not just the other people who do the bad. Evil resides in us all, some people, more than others.