Title: Confronting Bad Trouble
Subtitle: Notes on Harm and Help
Subject Classification:  Sociology, Anthropology, Morals  
BIC Classification: JF, JH, HPQ
BISAC Classification: PHI005000, SOC051000, SOC026000
Binding: Hardback, eBook
Publication date: 15 Jun 2025
ISBN (Hardback): 978-1-83711-304-0
ISBN (eBook): 978-1-83711-305-7

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Description

This book is an exploration of the dark side of humanity. It begins with the observation that people are a mix of good and evil, as portrayed in the well-known story of the two wolves. The story concludes that the one that wins, is the one you feed. This book explores the ways that biology, culture, society, and individual differences feed one or the other of the wolves.

Evil is defined as deliberate and unnecessary harm to other humans, or to the human life support system. The book concentrates largely on actual aggressive violence, especially war and genocide, but contextualized in a wider inquiry into prejudice and hatred. Human evil can be traced back to animal roots in aggressive competition over resources, but human violence is far more complex, conditioned by culture and society, and by the complexity of choice. The concept of zero-sum, positive-sum, and negative-sum games are used as a launch point to explore rivalry and cooperation, succeeded by more probing questions of emotion and conflict.

Evil may be fed through prejudice, group hate, lies, and political activity; the last often financed by corporations or groups that feel threatened by progress, especially by rising majorities or minorities committed to forward-looking change. Many people, including political and economic leaders, feel they can increase wealth and power only by taking it away from others. On the other hand, helping people and cooperating is also common. The difference usually comes down to rivals vs. allies. Working together and negotiating with rivals is possible, but humans tend to fight unless conflict resolution processes are well established culturally.

The book will be an important reference source for any scholars interested in a general comparative study of deliberate harm, and to a broader audience of social scientists.

Biography

Author(s):  Dr. Eugene Anderson is Professor Emeritus at the University of California, USA.

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