The psychology of evil

No one is born evil

In fact neurosurgeons have done a fortune of research that we are exceptionally compassionate

So how does a compassionate person become an evil person?

A friend of mine, Yossi Banishevitz, a genius, once answered this question for me

I asked him to explain to me the verse that it states during the siege of Jerusalem, in which a terrible hunger raged for three years – people literally threw their gold into the streets as it was worthless – so the verse tells us “compassionate women cooked their children (for food.”) What’s up with that – the answer, simple enough, he replied – pressure!

You see, compassion is like a flower, it grows in our heart from identification.

But anyone, truly anyone under a different form of pressure will crack.

I think a good way of understanding emotions is from heat.

We all need a highly controlled atmosphere to be comfortable, if you simply took a person and heated them up by ten degrees, they would go crazy and likewise if you simply put them into a freezer.

In other words, for us to emotionally be healthy, we need certain conditions.

First and foremost we must lack fear.

Fear is turning the heat on.

This is why evil people are terrorists – not so much do they seek the murder, for that would be an act of justice, say to kill a murderer, either as punishment or a prevention, rather they seek to terrorize!

To terrorize, is to turn the heat on, to make the person live in hell!

So why would anyone in their right mind seek this?!

Firstly, we must recognize as the Alter Rebbe, the greatest soul map guide – author of the Tanya writes, a person in a state of doing evil is dominated by the demon of malice.

They themselves are internally compassionate as mentioned and proven scientifically.

But when God-forbid, we get traumatized, when we begin to live in hell, in fear of unwarranted abuse, which is from comes primarily, from malicious unwarranted criticism, suddenly we cease to be thinking rational people.

Just as a person in love ceases to think rationally, they can merely see what they want to see – the proof being, from millions of drug addicts that know they are literally destroying their families, all whom, they love and themselves! but the desire for the high of the drug supersedes their rational mind.

Similarly, the person in fear, seeks first and foremost to rid himself of this noxious feeling; like sitting on a hot stove, your only desire would be to get off it!

Now the unfortunate corily to living in hell is becoming jealous of those who live in heaven.

You see, if the reason. you were put into hell is due to a rational reason, you yourself agree to – say. you know you did something wrong, hence believe you should be punished, you will not feel angry, jealous at those living in heaven.

But if your mind cannot understand the rationality – “why did this happen to me?!” and you see it, as an extenuated cruelty, you then not only resent the person who did it, you become jealous of those who it hasn’t happened to.