Science of Evil: On Empathy and the Origins of Cruelty [Audiobook] [Audio CD]

What could one of the world's leading autism researchers possibly know about evil?

Surprisingly--plenty.

In the "Science of Evil" Dr. Simon Baron-Cohen has set out to apply scientific rigor to a concept that is all too familiar, but which has received very little serious attention from researchers. Whether it is describing serial killers, terrorists, or political mass murderers, we use the word "evil" without really understanding what it is. "The Science of Evil" takes a big step forward towards providing a scientific explanation for evil. And surprisingly, the explanation that Dr. Simon Baron-Cohen provides is a natural extension of his autism research and is solidly grounded in brain science.

In "The Essential Difference" Dr. Baron-Cohen described his autism research and theory that there is a continuum with autism on one end of the spectrum, and extreme empathy on the other. People on the autism end, also known as systemizers, have superior pattern recognition skills, but lack the ability to perceive and appropriately respond to the mental and emotional states of others. Think "Rainman."

So what does this have to do with evil? For Baron-Cohen, the core condition shared by those we call "evil" is a failure of the empathy system--a brain system that allows us to know how others feel, and care about those feelings. A brain system that prevents most of us from hurting others through the mechanism of empathy. Understood in these terms, the study of evil becomes a study of the biological and situational factors that underlie failures and deficits of empathy.

But what about those people who fall towards the autistic end of the systemizing/empathizing continuum? While they may lack empathy, what prevents them from committing the type of acts that we call evil? Baron-Cohen suggests that the critical difference between those who have little or no empathy--what he calls "Zero" on an empathy scale that he has developed--is whether the person is capable of forming a strong moral code, even in the absence of empathy. Baron-Cohen argues that people with autism are "Zero Positive" because, while they struggle with empathy in real-time social situations, they often use their excellent systemizing skills to form such a strong moral code. As a result they care about treating others fairly, and care that others (including animals) should not suffer. Think Temple Grandin. This contrasts with those who are "Zero Negative" (such as psychopaths) who, while they have no difficulty calculating what others might think or feel in real-time social situations, don't care about others' feelings and lack any moral code. This distinction helps explain why on average people who are Zero Positive are not predisposed to commit acts of cruelty, while those who are Zero Negative are.

"The Science of Evil" is an exceptional book on several levels. Although it deals with complex concepts from brain science, it is written in a very accessible style. Dr. Baron-Cohen's writing demonstrates his own empathy for his readers by providing many helpful clarifying examples. Baron-Cohen has the rare talent of making his own scientific research accessible and easy to understand. Specifically, I have never read a better description of Borderline Personality Disorder.

For those who have a background and interest in brain science, the position that Dr. Simon Baron-Cohen is advancing is supported with details of the brain structures involved. Readers can easily skip the descriptions of the brain structures involved without losing any of the important themes and ideas presented in the book. (Similarly, to set the stage, Dr. Baron-Cohen includes several examples of evil in the beginning of the book that some may find disturbing. These examples can also be skimmed or skipped.) For those who have an interest in the science of empathy, the book is a perfect companion to Frans de Waal's "The Age of Empathy" and Dacher Keltner's "Born to Be Good."

Dr. Simon Baron-Cohen also provides a major new theory of the underlying physiological basis of Psychopathy, Bordeline Personality Disorder, and Narcissism. In my opinion, this theory has the same broad explanatory power as his systemizer/empathizer continuum model that is the subject of his "The Essential Difference." Dr. Baron-Cohen makes a very convincing case that brain imaging supports an underlying deficit or failure of empathy in each of these disorders.

"The Science of Evil" is a gem of a book. It is a book about empathy that is written with empathy and compassion by a scientist who has devoted his life to unlocking the secrets of autism spectrum disorders. Simon Baron-Cohen's "The Science of Evil" is an indispensable resource for those who seek a better understanding of what it really means to be "evil."

I would start off by saying this is indeed an interesting little read. My own background is that I'm a clinical specialist in psychiatry. I found this book moderately interesting and certainly easy to read.

The author has interesting ideas around a more scientific approach to the nature of evil and potential rehab for those who indulge in terrible crimes. He talks about the idea of brain cell regeneration. An idea established within the area of constraint induced therapy for stroke victims by which the disababled limb is bound thus making the patient use their bad arm. This helps them to regenerate their the brain cells involved in movement and therefore regain a level of function in their bad arm.

The same idea is potentially used with psychopaths. To assist them to regenerate the brain areas associated with empathy and therfore stop them being psychopaths. I should point out that in my view it is not possible to treat psychopaths!

I disagree with the chapter which discuss peaple who suffer with Borderline Personality Disorder. To describe them en mass as lacking empathy with others is inacccurate and rather insulting towards them. In my experince whilst individul patients can lack empathy towards others, I have generally found them to be emotionally vulnerable and very sensitive towards others. The overgeneralisation within this book towards this group of patients is unhelpful.

There appears to be a lack of peer review which weakens the idess within the book. However if you want to read some interesting ideas aimed towards thoughtful laymen you cAn do worse. Naturally read the book as criticaly as you would read anything else.

This book is a quick and easy read despite the, at times, repetitive, tedious and reductive, scientific jargon of the lab scientist. If you have the time, this book can be absorbed in a day. I had chores to do Saturday, so it took me two days. The author has a sense of "we" and inclusiveness in his writing style, thank goodness, which boosts the reader's motivation to plow through the jargon. The author practices the empathy he teaches about in this book so the reader has another level, a meta-level, of understanding of the subject.

The most unique aspect of this work is the author's contribution to an understanding of those who do evil and hurtful things to others: above all else, it is due to a total and complete lack of empathy, a phenomenon that can be traced, measured and predicted through science's understanding of the brain. The scary part of this information, not mentioned in the book, is how this scientific knowledge can lead to "pre-crime arrests," as was illustrated in the movie "Minority Report." Whether the person is a psychopath, a person suffering from an anti-social disorder or a borderline personality or a Narcissistic personality, each type mentioned here manifests "Zero degrees of empathy" that has negative consequences for others as well as for the self.

A second unique aspect of this work is the author's understanding of Asberger's Syndrome as a systematizing function of the brain, a logic function that seems to carry with it its own moral code (based on logic or logical consistencies). Here is another type of personality that also suffers from "Zero degrees of empathy" but this deficit often has positive consequences for others and can have positive consequences for the self as well.

The author's purpose in writing this book is to put empathy in the forefront of our consciousness, politically as well as socially and parentally. All infants and children need "a pot of gold" of emotional warmth and appreciation bred into their brains and bones so as to develop into smart and empathic adults. As Jackie De Shannon once sang in the late 1960s for future generations' benefit, "What the world needs now is love, sweet love." We also need to solve the struggle between Israel and the Palestinians that does not involve the U.S. simply turning over billions of dollars annually to "support" Israel. Simon Baron-Cohen thinks empathy is the universal solvent to that end.

My only disappointment with the book is that while empathy is the author's main focus, he can only mention one person (besides an earlier example of a female psychotherapist), Bishop Desmond Tutu, as an exemplar of what it means to have "super-empathy" -- and no scientific proof whatsoever to back up his assertion whether for Mr. Tutu or the female psychotherapist. You have to take his word on faith simply because he is a scientist. I have a better example, although still lacking in scientific rigor: read the novels of Henry James.

I am a better person for having read this book. It refreshed my spirit and revitalized my "double-mindedness" (that's a very good thing, according to the author) such that I recommend it to everyone, even if you already are an empathic person. The likelihood, however, of this book causing major political changes in the world we live in today is very low. Why? Because the major political changes the world is now so painfully and destructively undergoing are being perpetrated by the very psychologically warped types that comprise the dark subject of this author's study of evil.