What makes us “evil”?
Why do people do evil?
It is very easy for most of us to ask and answer this question. Because in most cases, evil is profitable, even if it is unjust, and human is essentially an evil animal. Therefore, evil is a fact that we cannot naturally get away with and it is an integral part of human reality.
Throughout the ages, we have (or seem to have) very definite judgments about the concept of evil and the person who commits evil, especially in our legal systems. Evil is "diabolical" and most of the time, when it comes to evil, there are "evil" people who have surrendered to the devil and put their will in his hands. These are mostly people who have no choice but to do evil. Maybe those who do evil by mistake can be reformed from time to time, but there are those who have "evil souls". This is how we generally classify psychopathic murderers and sociopath murderers. They must be incorrigible or must be met with terrible punishments or death itself.
How do we know evil?
Although today's neuroscience and neuropsychology tell us many new things about the psychological or brain states of such criminals, public opinion does not suddenly change its mind and direction just because science has learned something new. Victims and aggrieved ones still demand the harshest punishment for these evils and do not really want to know the real reasons behind this evil. Because the victim or aggrieved person cannot tolerate excuses and naturally demands justice that will serve to "cool his/her heart".
People who commit unpreventable crimes and serial murders due to functioning problems in their brains are actually "sick" rather than being criminals, according to what we know today. Although their isolation from society is as essential today as it was in the past, modern science has a lot to say about how we should approach these people after isolation. Modern rehabilitation technologies can now provide significant improvements in such people when we can diagnose their condition correctly. But most of the time, “evil” may not be based on a physical or diagnosable mental problem. So, if their brains work normally and their mental faculties are generally in good shape, why are some people more prone to evil than others?
Of course, it is possible to address this issue with deep philosophical expansions, but this is its place and I am not the man for that job. But since the word is about evil, I can give the basic message I want to give (because that's actually why I opened this word). I think understanding what makes ordinary people bad is a very important starting point so that we can stay away from evil and be good.
What makes a person bad?
We generally call evil actions that intentionally harm other people, nature, or the person himself. If it is not due to another obvious cause in the perpetrator, that is, if it is not caused by brain damage or obvious psychological traumas, let's call it ordinary evil, I think we can reduce it to a very obvious and simple reason.
The mother of all evil: Fear
The first step that pushes ordinary people to be bad is the feeling of fear. Distrust, fear, and uncertainty about the world, people, the future, or oneself push most people into a series of anxious thinking patterns. Such thought patterns, combined with some special life opportunities, create in some minds a tendency to do something special sometimes, but not always. A person who takes action to eliminate the thing that creates uncertainty and to protect himself from those worrying factors often knowingly or unknowingly does harm to other people and even to the world he lives in. Some people's existential fears are so great that other worldly fears, such as the law, the military, authority, etc., seem irrelevant to them. Thanks to the hypnosis caused by their great fear, they continue to make millions of people vomit blood with many evil deeds.
Fear is perhaps the most basic emotion associated with human existence. Maybe that's why evil is like a curse that only overflows and emerges from humans. While passing through this world with a mind capable of imagining eternity, the incredible questions he experiences or is likely to experience about the meaning of this short life throw him into the arms of great uncertainty and fear of the unknown. There is nothing a person cannot do to get rid of this fear. Many take refuge in narratives, religions and traditions. He finds temporary comfort in crowds with people like him. Another large portion seeks and finds sedatives that will numb them mentally and emotionally. Whether it is chemicals, career, fame, pursuit of ambitions and desires, sedative drugs are abundant. However, when the religious person has doubts and the drug addict cannot access the pastimes or chemicals that calm him down, that great fear recurs worse. Therefore, losing one's beliefs can create serious deprivation crises, just like falling away from the object of addiction. Some, if possible, try to relieve their endless fear by oppressing others, falling into power madness, and declaring war on everything beautiful. Because as long as fear exists, torture makes it impossible to live. We know that these types of people usually have sad endings. Of course, the “bad guys” know this too. But the torment of those great fears is so great that the temporary delusion of fearlessness caused by these searches seems attractive despite a future disaster.
Why isn't everyone the same?
However, not everyone is like this. Trust, the opposite of fear, is the cure for all evil, and some have the chance to drink from this medicine. Those who have a basic and essential "faith" whether or not they have a religious belief, those who are aware of the existence of a system larger than themselves, those who can offer the fruits derived from this to other people by discovering some of their competencies that can help poor people like themselves, and many others who are fortunate like this, will be much more confident in the same existence. They can live within their feelings. These are the ones who prefer construction rather than destruction, and construction and revival rather than destruction. Thanks to them, civilizations, ideas and roads are established. Thanks to them, the hungry are fed and faces smile. Those who can discover their "purpose" in this uncertain existence often unknowingly free other people from the torment that may arise from their own fears.
If you found it reasonable up to this point, I think there is a personal duty for both me and you from here on. Recognizing our own fears and trying to find their source. Everyone is afraid of something, because fear is natural. What is unnatural is to try to numb this, to turn a deaf ear to what that fear can tell us. A person who knows his fears can also discover ways to turn those fears into confidence. It may not always be successful, but the only ones who find are those who seek.