The root of evil!
For centuries, we have seen examples of different people from different cultures around the world doing evil things to each other. Still to this day, innocent children are killed; a suicide bomber may take hundreds of lives. Psychologist Simon Baron-Cohen does not brush over all this by stating “these people are evil”. He searches for an explanation.
In his book The Science of Evil, English psychologist Simon Baron-Cohenassociates the root of cruelty displayed by mankind to lack of empathy. According to Cohen, behavior defined as "evil" comes into being as a result of what he calls“erosion of empathy”. Although lack of empathy is not the only factor causing cruelty, Cohen argues this is present in all kinds of evil. Also, lack of empathy is the common feature of the elements of violence, evil and cruelty observed in narcissistic, borderline and anti-social (psychopathic) personality disorders. As part of their research, Cohen et al. have developed a scale for measuring empathy. A person’s empathy quotient (Empathy Quotient–EQ) is determined as high or low based on the responses given to a list of forty questions. People who have zero (negative) empathy on the scale (defined as “Zero-Negative” by Cohen) approach the subjects of their cruelty as a piece of property and ignore their humane sides. One of the clearest examples of this is the Nazi camps. As we all know, millions of people were used as experimental objects and were subjected to unimaginable torture before losing their lives. Cruelty and mercilessness had become the daily routine of those working here. Cohen set on his research asking “how can we explain the cause of one person tyrannizing another with such lack of mercy?” after listening to his father talk about these stories as a child. Really, how can one man ignore the humanity of the next person so extensively?
For centuries, we have seen examples of different people from different cultures around the world doing evil things to each other. Still to this day, innocent children are killed; a suicide bomber may take hundreds of lives. Psychologist Simon Baron-Cohen does not brush over all this by stating “these people are evil”. He searches for an explanation.
Being evil may not be an easy to explain concept, however empathy can be explained physically and scientifically. At this point, Cohen suggests replacing “evil” with “erosion of empathy”. According to this suggestion, probability of a person with a high level of empathy being evil is almost zero. What lies beneath erosion of empathy are some corrosive emotions such as grudge, desire for revenge, hate or protective instinct. Additionally, lack or erosion of empathy or may occur as a result of beliefs (idea that members of a certain group, religion, sect or race should not have rights), targets (protecting the country or represented society), submission to authority (subjects electrocuting people with orders from an authority figure dressed in a white coat, as in the infamous Milgram experiment) and desire to create fear or adopt (such as the students assigned to be guards in Stanford Jain experiment turning aggressive). Cohen associates evil with lack of empathy and claims this is temporary or reversible.
Cohen describes empathy in a simpler chart as a concept with an on/off switch and argues when the empathy is “off”, the person views another as an object devoid of emotion, thought and subjectivity and that this may lead all the way to homicide; being the biggest evil one man can do unto another. It is also highly probably for a person to lose their sense of empathy when their own interest is on line. It is very important to define the concept when discussing empathy. According to Cohen, when we are able to move our attention from a one-sided focal point to a two-sided one, we can talk about the existence of empathy. That is, when we inspect events not just through our own viewpoint but upon considering the perspective of other involved parties, we can claim to have an empathic approach. So if we expand the definition, empathy is “determining the thoughts and emotions of others and responding accordingly”. This definition brings about two stages of empathy: recognition and response. When we see someone in dire straits, if we notice this situation they are in but do not help, we cannot be considered to show empathy. Empathy requires understanding the emotions and thoughts of others and estimate the effect of our actions and words on them to make an effort to make them feel better and not hurt them.
In Cohen’s "evil X empathy" model, lack of empathy is not considered the only cause of evil. In fact, people with Asperger’s syndrome in autism spectrum are cognitively at or near zero in empathy scale, but their emotional empathy is sound and therefore they have capacity to care about others. People in this group called “Zero-Positive”by Cohen have difficulty with empathy but do not mean to intentionally harm others.
So, to what is this scalable empathy mechanism connected? At this stage, Cohen talks about an empathy cycle in the brain. Thanks to today’s technology, fMRIs show existence of areas in our brains with significant roles in times of displaying empathy. As a result of brain imaging works, neurological consensus has been reached on the existence of at least ten areas of the brain being connected to empathy. It is considered there are more of these connections and works are ongoing in this regard. Biological factors may be prominent, but the “environmental x genetic” argument in the occurrence of the concept can be seen here. The cause of Zero-Negative situation may be seen as neglect or wrongful rearing, this is not always the only cause. In fact, in measuring empathy, it is suggested certain genes have important roles. Especially in works done involving twins and adopted children, the genetic feature of empathy factor is prominent.
As a result, according to Cohen, empathy is almost a “universal solvent” in the pre-determination and resolution of interpersonal problems (marriage, international relations, professional life, friendships, political disputes, family disputes…). In fact this cure is a much better and free solution compared to guns, war, lawful and religious fights that cost billions.