179: Julia Shaw on Humanizing Evil

“I firmly believe there is no person, no group, no behavior, no thing that is objectively evil. Perhaps evil only really exists in our fears.” -- Julia Shaw Today it’s great to have Dr. Julia Shaw on the podcast. Dr. Shaw is a psychological scientist at UCL. She is best known for her work in the areas of memory and criminal psychology. In 2017 Dr. Shaw co-founded the memory science and artificial intelligence start-up Spot. Spot helps employees report workplace harassment and discrimination, and empowers organizations to build a more inclusive and respectful work environment. In 2016 she published her bestselling debut book "The Memory Illusion", which has appeared in 20 languages and in 2019 she published her second international bestseller "Evil: The Science Behind Humanity's Dark Side". Note: This episode goes down a lot of taboo alleys. The dark side of human nature  is a fascinating topic, but there may be some issues that you'd rather not hear about. Please review the list of topics before listening to this episode. In this episode we discuss: How Julia got into criminal psychology How we all do “reality crafting” The depths of human hypocrisy Why we don’t always act in accord with our own morality Julia Shaw’s criticism of the label “evil” The neuroscience of “evil” and Hitler’s brain Your brain on porn How kink is stigmatized in our society Can you be a feminist and engage in BDSM? The “deviant sexual interests” scale The prevalence of rape fantasies Pedophiles vs. ephebophiles Why “curiosity shaming” limits discussion and understanding The science of beastiality and what makes one animal sexier than another animal Why we shame vegans Rape culture and how systems fail and lead to harm What we can do to reduce sexual violence in society The bright side of your dark side How we can use the dark side to be a hero (the heroic imagination)