Evil: The Science Behind Humanity's Dark Side

Julia Shaw

$24.00

Publication Date: February 26th, 2019

Publisher:

Abrams Press

ISBN:

9781419729492

Pages:

320

Description

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.

About the Author

Dr. Julia Shaw is a psychological scientist at University College London. She is the founder of the Bisexual Research Group, and in 2017 Shaw co-founded the memory science and artificial intelligence start-up Spot, which helps employees report workplace harassment and discrimination. She is the author of The Memory Illusion, which was published in 20 languages, and Evil, a bestseller in Canada and Germany. Besides her research, she is a regular keynote speaker on the topics of memory hacking, tackling workplace harassment, and artificial intelligence, and is the cohost of the BBC podcast Bad People. She lives in London.

Praise for Evil: The Science Behind Humanity's Dark Side

“Julia Shaw has crafted a brilliant panorama that elucidates humanity's dark side in her masterpiece, Evil. This science-based foundation for studying the minds of sadists, mass murderers, freaks and creeps, as well the new role of tech in promoting evil is presented in a totally engaging fashion. For me, it is the other bookend with The Lucifer Effect for understanding the many evils around us (and sometimes in us) along with the monumental evil of mass apathy of doing nothing when we should stand up, speak out, and take wise and effective actions as Everyday Heroes.”
— Philip Zimbardo

"A consistently fascinating journey into the darker sides of the human condition that will push on the boundaries of readers' comfort zones.”
— Kirkus Reviews

“Stimulating and provocative.”
— Library Journal