Evil: The Science Behind Humanity's Dark Side

Are bad people born bad, or do we all have a tipping point?

We use the word “evil” to explain the unexplainable―mass shooters, serial killers, corrupt dictators, and the cruelty we see online every day. We write them off as monsters, distinct from the rest of us. But what if the boundary between “normal” human behavior and true depravity is much thinner than we think?

In Evil, internationally acclaimed criminal psychologist and scientist Dr. Julia Shaw uses cutting-edge neuroscience, behavioral data, and pop culture to dismantle our neat, comfortable ideas of morality and deliver an unblinking look into the dark mechanics of the human brain.

Dr. Shaw exposes the science behind our lowest impulses, revealing how easily ordinary people can be pushed, conditioned, or nudged into doing the unthinkable.

Through gripping case studies and unexpected scientific data, this book breaks down:

• The Neuro-Architecture of Cruelty: What a brain scan looks like when empathy goes dark, and why your own brain is wired for sadism under the right conditions.
• The Anatomy of Tech-Driven Malice: How the internet doesn't just display bad behavior―it actively gamifies and scales online cruelty, cyberbullying, and trolling.
• The Banality of Groupthink: The terrifying psychological overrides that allow ordinary, decent citizens to comply with corporate fraud, systemic corruption, and state-sanctioned violence.
• The Taboos We Secretly Harbor: A fascinating, nonjudgmental look at the psychology of sexual deviance and bloodlust, and where the line sits between harmless fantasy and dangerous behavior.

Fascinating and unsettling, Evil doesn't ask you to forgive humanity's worst behavior. Instead, it forces you to look in the mirror and confront a far more uncomfortable truth: understanding our capacity for darkness is the only way to safeguard our light.

Dr. Julia Shaw is an internationally renowned criminal psychologist, psychological scientist, and regular presenter of TV and audio documentaries. An expert on memory hacking, criminal behavior, and the intersection of social science and artificial intelligence, she is an honorary Research Associate in Psychology at University College London (UCL) and a visiting researcher at the King's Institute for Artificial Intelligence.

Dr. Shaw is the cofounder of the AI-driven legal tech platform Spot, and her work has been featured globally in WIRED, Scientific American, and the Lex Fridman Podcast. She is the creator and host of multiple chart-topping audio series, including the award-winning BBC Sounds podcast Bad People and Project Mind Control, and her bestselling books have been translated into more than twenty languages. Born in Germany and raised in Canada, she lives in London.