Evil Genes

Barbara Oakley

Almost every introductory psychology student will have to answer the question: Is behavior and personality due to nature or nurture? While at points in the field’s history, both answers have been considered correct, it is clear that with the new discoveries in genetics, nature is definitely the winning answer.

But not the complete answer. As Barbara Oakley points out in Evil Genes: Why Rome Fell, Hitler Rose, Enron Failed, and My Sister Stole My Brother’s Boyfriend, genes explain the predisposition for certain disorders, but environment can push what might be a mild case into full-blown Machiavellian personality.

I am not a biologist, so much of the genetic explanations went right over my head. But she makes a compelling case that people with borderline personality disorder have become leaders who have caused a great deal of havoc: Hitler, Mao, and the CFO at Enron. The section on Mao is especially disturbing. She also tells the story of her own sister, who obviously also suffered from the disorder and was one of the “sinisterly successful” who can make so many others’ ordinary lives so miserable. One only has to look at the symptoms of borderline personality disorder to see why others would find such a person hard to live or work with: rapid mood swings, emotional instability with trouble relationships with feature fear of abandonment, inconsistent attitudes and behaviors, no clear goals or direction, and self harm.

Oakley gives the reader a lot to think about: There does seem to have to be some sort of narcissism in a person to be successful at all. And if we only chose those without problems as our leaders, then perhaps Churchill would never have saved the day for Britain in World War II.

Check this book out at your Kisber library!