Evil Genes: Why Rome Fell, Hitler Rose, Enron Failed, and My Sister Stole My Mother's Boyfriend

I give Evil Genes an A+. First off, forget the whole nature-versus-nurture debate and all the baggage about eugenics and whatnot: that's just not the *point* of this book. Oakley isn't preaching here, she's presenting the reasonable point of view that inheritable faults in brain development can, together with environmental influences, result in personality disorders and other processing problems that may, in turn, lead to inexplicably and gratuitously evil and destructive behavior. However, I read the book cover to cover, and I never got the impression she was making the case that there's a "schizophrenia gene" or a "rapist gene" or anything like that, and I certainly didn't get the feeling she was arguing that we ought to excuse criminal behavior because "my evil genes made me do it." What Oakley does is present a well-founded case that genes and combinations of genes can ultimately cause brains to get wired wrong or to develop chemical imbalances that result in faulty processing. Oakley's case seems reasonable to me. If you pick up Gray's Anatomy, you see there are loads of physical variations in the construction of our bodies... an extra bone here... an extra nerve or artery there... and I see no reason why brain construction shouldn't have similar physical and chemical variations resulting in a spectrum of psychological dispositions. Oakley isn't writing a PhD thesis here. What she's doing is mixing a goodish dose of interesting and accessible science with some fascinating inside stuff about public menaces interwoven with Oakley's memories of the trail of destruction left by her own erratic older sister Carolyn. I just couldn't put the book down. Here are a few random sentences on pages I dog eared (some of these are from sources, not Oakley herself): * Indeed, psychopaths know intellectually what is immoral--they just don't have a feeling of immorality about it. * The hypothalamus controls the "four F's": 1. fighting, 2. fleeing, 3. feeding; and 4. mating. * I've learned one of the most valuable lessons I could ever learn--that deep-rooted emotional reasoning can often trump logic. * Densely populated areas, apparently, are the equivalent for psychopaths of ponds and puddles for malarial mosquitoes. * "Gaslighting" involves the denial of a borderline...that certain events occurred or certain things were said. The borderline may deny another person's perceptions, memory, or very sanity. If my review didn't convince you, sample the front matter and first chapter. You won't be able to put the book down. I promise.

Three or four times a year I come across a book so compelling that I bubble over telling friends about it and impulsively read passages aloud to my long-suffering husband. Evil Genes is such a book. As the book description says, Barbara Oakley began getting really interested in what makes people evil when she read her dead sister's diaries. For many people this would be the end of the story, but, being an engineer, and therefore analytically inclined, and a linguist, and therefore verbally inclined, Ms. Oakley delved into what the latest in psychology and brain science can tell us about what goes on in the brains of really evil people. And then she wrote about it in a way that laymen like me can understand. I probably learned more about brains and mental pathology in this book than in any single other book I have read. I can now impress my friends with terms like "polygeny" and "gaslighting." The information provided is sufficiently advanced that I even told a psychiatrist friend things he didn't know! In addition to the pure science, however, the book contains fascinating analyses of the minds of leaders like Chairman Mao and Winston Churchill (not that she implies Sir Winston was evil) and concludes that a touch of deviance might be helpful for personal success. Anyone with an interest in science or history is likely to find Evil Genes an unusual and fascinating read. Let me warn, however, that this IS a book of science and presents what is known at the present level of the science; it does not offer uninformed speculation. Some other reviewers seem disappointed at the lack of conclusions; they will just have to wait until science catches up with our desire for answers.

Oakley's "Evil Genes" is a compelling mix of science, history and personal experience. The catalyst for Oakley's book is the sudden death of her sister, Carolyn, an attractive woman who often acted with shocking disregard for the people around her. When Carolyn learned that her mother's boy friend was planning to take her mother on the "trip of a lifetime" to Europe, Carolyn quickly "came to visit" and ended up being the replacement girl friend who actually made the trip. Her mother died not too long after that disappointment. When Carolyn came home to vist her family after a long estrangement amid seemingly heartfelt pleas for forgiveness and reconciliation, she went to town to run some errands and wasn't seen again for five years. It later turned out she had decided to go home with a man she had met at a store. Carolyn's diary entry on the occasion of her father's death sandwiched the family's tragedy in the midst of the mundane: "cleaned up the dried parsley I acccidentally spilled. Barb called--Dad died. My request for periodontal care seemed self-serving; but apparently this will be handled through a trust fund." Clearly, Carolyn was different from other people in her sense of the importance (or unimportance) of those around her. But why? Was it because of her upbringing? Because of a genetic predisposition toward a borderline personality disorder? Because of the polio she had suffered as a child? Or was it some combination of these factors? These are the questions that Oakley explores and struggles to answer in her highly readable book. The science in "Evil Genes" reveals that the "successfully sinister" (also known as Machiavellians) don't just act differently from most other people--sophisticated brain scanning techniques show that their brains process information and emotions in a completely different way. Oakley weaves these fascinating findings with historical evidence to study several famous "successfully sinister" personalities like Adolph Hitler, Chairman Mao, Slobodan Milosevic, and Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling. The subtext is that people like this are all around us and that, while some are failures because of their personality defects, others manage to combine their Machiavellian personalities with valuable skills to become very prominent--and very dangerous. They are all the more dangerous because they are firmly convinced of the righteousness of their narcissistic and self-serving causes: Oakley suggests that despite the millions of deaths and other cruelties he inflicted, Chairman Mao probably believed until his dying day that he was a deeply moral and essentially good man. The fact that evil people often don't grasp that they are in fact evil is a cold comfort for the rest of us. From a genetic and evolutionary perspective, where do these people come from? According to Oakley, borderline personalities seem to be rare in hunter-gatherer societies--accidents happen to those who are conspicuously self-serving.

Oakley picks up where Andrew Lobaczewski left off. In political ponerology Andrew Lobaczewski implored others to continue research into the nature of evil/psychopathy. Because of her personal experiences, and most likely without knowing of Lobaczewski, she has responded to his call. Using data from brain imaging, genetic analysis and cutting edge forensic, neurological and behavioral research along with her personal experiences, Barbara Oakley shows how psychopaths make our lives a living hell. The borderline, narcissistic sociopathic personality has a charm that turns us into easy marks and they can't help it. She shows why being aware of the method to their madness, for that is what it is-a biological disease- will save the world much grief. Highly recommended

Have you ever been curious how a few select individuals manage to manipulate their way to the top? Before I read "Evil Genes" I wondered if people who rose to success from their devious behavior had luck on their side or maybe they were born to be different from most people? If these are questions you've asked yourself, then this is a book for you. The author explains her theories about Machiavellian behavior and manages to drop the names of quite a few celebrities, politicans and historical figures to prove her point. A fascinating read!