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Giovanna Clairval · 17th October 2007, 06:19 PM

Huscarl, I am sorry, but Primordial Evil does not exist.

It is a human fantasy.

As Nik said, evil person equals ill person. Among the so-called crazy people, this is the only, real in-sanus, where "sanus" means "healthy". The unhealthy one becomes insanus in her first years.

Picture a toddler who is trying to insert a metallic slide (a barrette) into a socket. Mum shrieks like a siren, 'NO! Don't touch that!' The toddler jerks her hand away and looks up, marvelling at the awe painted on Mum’s face. Mum is omnipotent. Mum is wise. Mum can even move chairs; and she can haul the whole Toddler up into her arms. She can’t be so upset over something negligible; ergo, the Toddler must have committed a capital crime. This experience marks her to the point that, when Mum enters the room where the crime was consumed, she, the Toddler, points a finger toward the sinful socket and says (with feeling), ‘NO!’

This is called internalisation of interdiction. The child does not need her mother to be present any longer, in order to abide by the Law. The Law (thou shall not touch the Electric Socket) is etched in her heart forever. Sigmund called it “Super Ego”. It is the constable within.

The Toddler grows up and learns to circumvent the Law, but she does so with guilt.

When, at university, she meets the Rebels of the Burning Socket, she can change her basic beliefs, and learn that Electrocution is Joy, but she will always consider the Socket something sinful. Hence her delight in being a Rebel.

Well, my rant is meant to describe to Normal Human Being, the one that respects the Law out of Guilt.

Roger Zelazny depicted guilt as the one element that makes us human. The normal person doesn’t want to (cold-bloodedly) hurt another person. That is because the normal person can imagine the other’s suffering. When the N. P. is Bad (following the local, current definition of “Bad”), she can’t look at her own reflection in a mirror. The normal person, religious or not, can be very upset when she sees the consequences of her actions on other people. A common reaction is not to recognise one’s responsibility: guilt would harm the perpetrator, the image the offender has of herself. Guilt demands courage for one to accept it and overcome it.

Don’t get me wrong, there are a million ways of teaching a normal person how not to be normal, at least in some situations. It is part of the training of soldiers in every army.

But, inside, the Normal Person is still there.

On the other hand, psychopaths never internalise the Law. They grow up with the ability of mimicking it, and many of them learn to be an accepted part of a community.

Once, a psychologist who worked in a psychiatric hospital told me that he had observed X, a psychopath, poking old people’s hands with a fork. X was not “evil”. He just didn’t know that other people were like him, just like him. X could never really feel how another person feels. He was pricking other people’s hands to see what happened to them. If I cut them, do they bleed? X had no empathy whatsoever.

Isn’t empathy the strong movement of the soul, the moment in which we feel for the person who suffers, the moment when we are as one, and we imagine that we are suffering in our own flesh or spirit? She is like me. I can’t hurt her.

Very few people commit atrocities without feeling guilt.

These persons can be horrifying. It is tempting to call them “evil”, if only Evil existed.

Instead of Evil People, we are left with People that are Insane. I think the latter is far more scarier.

If Primordial Evil is a human fantasy, Evil, for us Normal* People, is a just another bad choice in our lives,

such as:

1) Eating toasts, chocolate and Forêt Noire Cake when we have high cholesterol,

2) Eating toasts (and the above) when we have no bad cholesterol, and doing so in front of people listed under (1).

3) Posting instead of writing,

4) Writing when we should be posting.

5) Posting pictures of food in the late hours of the night, when Deli’s are closed.

If 1; 2; 3; 4 induce GUILT in you, you are Normal.

Those who commit 5 are beyond hope.

*This is just a statistical term. Forms of Normality other than statistical do not exist.

17th October 2007, 06:19 PM	#6 (permalink)
Giovanna Clairval Registered User Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: France Posts: 1,127	Re: What is the Nature of Evil? Huscarl, I am sorry, but Primordial Evil does not exist. It is a human fantasy. As Nik said, evil person equals ill person. Among the so-called crazy people, this is the only, real in-sanus, where "sanus" means "healthy". The unhealthy one becomes insanus in her first years. Picture a toddler who is trying to insert a metallic slide (a barrette) into a socket. Mum shrieks like a siren, 'NO! Don't touch that!' The toddler jerks her hand away and looks up, marvelling at the awe painted on Mum’s face. Mum is omnipotent. Mum is wise. Mum can even move chairs; and she can haul the whole Toddler up into her arms. She can’t be so upset over something negligible; ergo, the Toddler must have committed a capital crime. This experience marks her to the point that, when Mum enters the room where the crime was consumed, she, the Toddler, points a finger toward the sinful socket and says (with feeling), ‘NO!’ This is called internalisation of interdiction. The child does not need her mother to be present any longer, in order to abide by the Law. The Law (thou shall not touch the Electric Socket) is etched in her heart forever. Sigmund called it “Super Ego”. It is the constable within. The Toddler grows up and learns to circumvent the Law, but she does so with guilt. When, at university, she meets the Rebels of the Burning Socket, she can change her basic beliefs, and learn that Electrocution is Joy, but she will always consider the Socket something sinful. Hence her delight in being a Rebel. Well, my rant is meant to describe to Normal Human Being, the one that respects the Law out of Guilt. Roger Zelazny depicted guilt as the one element that makes us human. The normal person doesn’t want to (cold-bloodedly) hurt another person. That is because the normal person can imagine the other’s suffering. When the N. P. is Bad (following the local, current definition of “Bad”), she can’t look at her own reflection in a mirror. The normal person, religious or not, can be very upset when she sees the consequences of her actions on other people. A common reaction is not to recognise one’s responsibility: guilt would harm the perpetrator, the image the offender has of herself. Guilt demands courage for one to accept it and overcome it. Don’t get me wrong, there are a million ways of teaching a normal person how not to be normal, at least in some situations. It is part of the training of soldiers in every army. But, inside, the Normal Person is still there. On the other hand, psychopaths never internalise the Law. They grow up with the ability of mimicking it, and many of them learn to be an accepted part of a community. Once, a psychologist who worked in a psychiatric hospital told me that he had observed X, a psychopath, poking old people’s hands with a fork. X was not “evil”. He just didn’t know that other people were like him, just like him. X could never really feel how another person feels. He was pricking other people’s hands to see what happened to them. If I cut them, do they bleed? X had no empathy whatsoever. Isn’t empathy the strong movement of the soul, the moment in which we feel for the person who suffers, the moment when we are as one, and we imagine that we are suffering in our own flesh or spirit? She is like me. I can’t hurt her. Very few people commit atrocities without feeling guilt. These persons can be horrifying. It is tempting to call them “evil”, if only Evil existed. Instead of Evil People, we are left with People that are Insane. I think the latter is far more scarier. If Primordial Evil is a human fantasy, Evil, for us Normal* People, is a just another bad choice in our lives, such as: 1) Eating toasts, chocolate and Forêt Noire Cake when we have high cholesterol, 2) Eating toasts (and the above) when we have no bad cholesterol, and doing so in front of people listed under (1). 3) Posting instead of writing, 4) Writing when we should be posting. 5) Posting pictures of food in the late hours of the night, when Deli’s are closed. If 1; 2; 3; 4 induce GUILT in you, you are Normal. Those who commit 5 are beyond hope. *This is just a statistical term. Forms of Normality other than statistical do not exist.