Academic essay on human punishment psychology, no actionable leads

Punishment in humans is emblematically promiscuous. We castigate others whenever they violate a social norm, in both competitive and cooperative situations, targeting kin and non-kin. Punishment is doled out by the individual directly harmed and also by third party onlookers. We use both physical and non-physical means to discipline cheaters, including ostracism. Punishment’s landscape is vast. The idea I develop here, building on the work of scholars in economics, psychology, and anthropology, is that our species alone circumvented the costs of punishment as an incidental consequence of promiscuity, including an intimate coupling between the systems of aggression and reward. As several brain imaging studies reveal, when we either anticipate or actually punish another, or even witness punishment as a mere bystander, our reward circuitry delivers a honey hit. Delivering just deserts, or watching them delivered, is like eating dessert. We absorb the costs of punishment by feeling good about ratting out the scourges, banishing them from society, and sometimes from life itself. Ironically, as the economist Samuel Bowles has suggested based on mathematical models and a synthesis of the historical record, punishment can strengthen solidarity and cooperation within the group, while simultaneously enhancing antagonism and prejudice toward those outside the inner sanctum. Ironically, the psychology that benefited cooperation among like-minded others may also have functioned to destroy those who have different beliefs and values. The emergence of promiscuous punishment was a momentous event in human history, a celebration of exquisite brain evolution and adaptive design. But this achievement carried a hidden cost, a debt that we continue to pay: A mind capable of feeling good about punishing in the name of virtue is a mind capable of doing bad to feel good. It is a mind that finds real or simulated violence entertaining and seeks ways to satisfy this interest. It is a mind that enjoys watching others suffer while singing O Schadenfreude. It is a mind that is capable of feeling good about killing others who are perceived as parasitic on society. It is a mind that can override the anticipated costs of killing by fueling a taste for killing. Desire, denial, aggression and reward are each associated with specific psychological processes, distinct evolutionary histories, and specific adaptive problems. When processed by a promiscuous brain, these systems connect in ways that are both beneficial to human welfare and deeply deleterious. How? Evil occurs when individuals and societies allow desire for personal gain to combine with the denial of others’ moral worth to justify the use of excessive harms. Everyone has desires, resources they want and experiences they seek. Our desires motivate us into action, often to fulfill personal needs or to help others. We all desire good health, fulfilling relationships, and knowledge to explain the world. Some also desire great wealth and power, each culture weighing in on its signature vision of what counts: money, land, livestock, wives, and subordinates. The desire system motivates action in the service of Hauser Prologue. Evilution 14 HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_012760