Post · Bonfire social

I've been thinking about the definition of evil recently. Some of the different definitions are compatible. I'd like to comment further.

I think that this is on topic. If it isn't seen that way, I'll delete it. But I feel, with no hyperbole intended, that we're at a unique moment in modern history in that a simple and practical mass scale filter for good vs. evil exists.

2. First, to define evil:

Wikipedia's definition of evil can be paraphrased as follows: Evil is related to acts [by people] that cause unnecessary pain and suffering to others.

I'd modify that to focus on willful and/or arrogant acts with special attention to selfish motivations and justifications that are conscious lies. Add that to unnecessary pain and suffering and you've got my definition of evil.

3. Next, about the unique filter:

There are a large number of examples of evil on a mass scale in history and especially in the past century as technology has made mass scale more practical.

Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, and Vladimir Putin come to mind.

Institutions and movements qualify as evil as well. I'll most likely be condemned for agreeing with Bertrand Russell's position that Christianity is the most evil movement in Western history. [ What Russell actually said was that Christianity was brutal and horrifying and the "principal enemy of moral progress". I think that that can be summarized as evil. ]

But no other figure in modern history has engendered the combination of evil in so many contexts, both petty and horrific, literally tens of thousands of lies even in the face of videos, and a divide where facts simply don't matter to millions of people as Donald Trump has managed to accomplish.

Trump is no Satanic figure, no genius or skilled manipulator as Putin is. Trump is, instead, a low-IQ type and low grade in general. At the same time, I believe that Trump is significant as more than an example of an evil individual.

In the U.S., it is the faith in Trump and the support of Trump regardless of physical facts that is the [or one] dividing line between good and evil.

Of course, not everybody who opposes Trump is "good". But it's safe to say that at this unique moment the largest primarily evil segment of U.S. society, at least, can be defined and identified using the Trump filter.

This is about tendencies as opposed to absolutes. For example, Trump types are, it appears, 50% more likely to commit sexual crimes. But where this is coming from, for me, is reflection on Trump people attitudes towards ICE in my country.

I don't think it's possible to say that the individuals who reflexively support ICE and seem unable to see facts in videos are "good" people.

In the U.S., Trump-ism trumps, so to speak, all other filters for good vs. evil that I'm able to think of.

Fundamentalism such as Christian Nationalism is an evil movement in general but one can't simply say that all Fundamentalists are evil as individuals. However, one can say that of all strong Trump supporters.

4. Take-aways:

I don't propose that, after Trump is gone, the U.S. should use the Trump filter to remove the bulk of evil in the country in one dramatic move. If I suggested that, I'd come across as a villain in a novel or as Pol Pot.

I have no desire to emulate or be seen as Pol Pot or as Raymond Schiller in "The Laundry Files". [ Not read yet but it sounds worthwhile. ]

But I do feel that to study Trump supporters, the neurological abnormalities involved in particular, and to look for solutions less dramatic than the Pol Pot alternative might jump society forward thousands of years.

I don't think that society is going to make it if something of the sort isn't done.

Trumpism [and therefore evil] is associated, physically in the brain, with oversized and/or overactive amygdalae. This suggests that medical treatments for evil might be possible. However, there seems to be more to the condition than that.

The cause of Trumpism, which is obviously of interest, involves both nature and nurture. My understanding is the condition is a potential characteristic at the genetic level that is triggered by external factors. It manifests in visible behavior that can be observed at age four.

Most importantly, whether Trumpism is more nature or more nurture, studies suggest that anti-Trump people possess more empathy than Trump types. Trump types, conversely, are lacking in empathy in comparison.

The lack of #empathy in the makeup of a Trump person supports the notion that Trumpism can be treated as a dividing line between good and evil. Is there a characteristic that is more obviously correlated to good and evil than empathy?

It adds up to, the #Trump side of the population needs to be defanged and ultimately removed through hopefully positive means such as genetic engineering. This could lead, in the end, to a treatment for #evil throughout the world.