Understanding the Dark Side of Human Nature
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Understanding the Dark Side of Human Nature
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Narrated by:
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Professor Daniel Breyer
About this listen
Hardly a day goes by that we don’t hear about someone committing a violent, reprehensible, even evil, act. And each time it happens, before we know anything about the circumstances, we are already sure of one thing: We are nothing like that perpetrator. But how can we be so sure? After all, we are all human.
In Understanding the Dark Side of Human Nature, Professor Daniel Breyer takes us on a fascinating philosophical journey into many of the deepest and darkest questions that have engaged humanity for millennia. The dark side of our nature is our mysterious and fragile underbelly - our negative, but all too human, side. For many of us, it may be easier to simply avoid looking into the darker aspects of ourselves and our world - the suffering we see everywhere around us, from real world events to the entertainment we consume. But the truth is, if we don’t face the totality of what it means to be human, we can never fully understand ourselves or fully appreciate our deep desire for meaning and purpose in our lives.
Thinkers from across the world and in many different eras have considered the dark side of human nature, and that’s why this course will adopt a cross-cultural approach, investigating perspectives from many different traditions - Hindu, Buddhist, Christian, and secular. This cross-cultural approach will help you see humanity as fully as possible from many perspectives, better allowing for progress toward finding answers that can apply across cultures and times.
This course is fueled by the power of questions, one of philosophy’s most potent tools. Some are questions we have all asked ourselves: Why do so many people commit violence against others, why is there so much suffering in the world? Professor Breyer provides some fascinating potential answers to many of our darkest questions.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
©2019 The Great Courses (P)2019 The Teaching Company, LLCListeners also enjoyed...
What listeners say about Understanding the Dark Side of Human Nature
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- C M Pihl
- 10-09-19
Vegans... why bother...
It wasn't as engaging as most of the other courses I've heard, but not the worst.
There was however, a lot of excusing for ones bad thoughts, so instead of delving deep into the human psyche, it became a bland overview of the authors opinion about dark thoughts... and his apparent "bad thoughts" about meat... it makes me seriously question the mental capabilities of vegetarians, when the fact that you couldn't stop eating a bit of meat, fills so much in a class about The Dark Side of Human Nature.
Jokes aside, the philosophical aspects were many and interesting, but focused mostly on excusing emotions like anger and hate, instead of delving into the evolutionary reasons for these emotions and the seemingly contradictory actions they entail.
meh, just my initial thoughts, but would still says it's worth a listen, especially if you have propblems with bad thoughts, instead of just finding the subject interesting.
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11 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anna Nym
- 21-07-22
Great Content
I really enjoyed listening to this course, it's very engaging and encourages thinking and the formation of own opinions.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Cee Jay
- 29-12-23
dull, slow
I tried to listen 3 times. it just didn't engage my interest. dull, slow, quite monotonous
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 09-07-23
Good but not an easy listen
This is good, but I found it a different listen on the whole.
Nevertheless it was worth it for the educational aspect of the course.
I found the speaker a little slow and use 1.1 speed
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Miss C. Hamlett
- 04-04-22
A pleasurable listen, but neglects replication.
The concepts and themes are not quite what I was expecting, it branches away from the more obvious forms of 'dark' behaviour and instead looks in to things that may cause every day stress such as grief or intrusive thoughts.
The broad range of subject is interesting and some of the topics that came up were genuinely thought provoking. However the times when psychology was brought up uncritically led me to question other parts of the lectures. For example, the Stanford Prison Experiment really leaps out at me. It is explored here without any mention of how the experiment has repeatedly failed replication and the entirely dubious methods used by Zimbardo throughout. Regardleee of if you believe the experiment to be demonstrative or not the criticisms should be brought up when using it as evidence as it gives a heavier weight to the arguments being brought forward by the lecturer.
In other areas there is more balanced presentation of alternative theories, largely in the realms of philosophy rather than psychology. These are certainly interesting in places though for me without the experimental weight it ends up feeling more towards edutainment, retelling concepts that the listener already knows a lot about in a new way that sprinkles some sparks of fresh information here and there. There's nothing really wrong with that and some of it may nudge listeners into personal research in to certain topics which can't be a bad thing.
I'd like to hear a seqel with more ex-phil material properly exploring the limitations of what research currently exists while bringing more light to that which gives weight to, or detracts from religious or folk psychological approaches to understanding these negative elements of the psyche.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- placidhead
- 28-03-22
very interesting
Loved this course from beginning to end. Makes you think about a lot of things in ways you may not have considered before.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- J. Leach
- 16-07-20
Very interesting
Journey through dark thoughts and behaviour, what they are and their nature.
Very interesting and thought provoking
Well presented and structured
Recommend
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- mr brian ashford
- 10-11-23
Good idea
At times it was hard to listen too, for in parts it used mythologically based books and quotes as evidence, which detracted from the facts and blended into fiction. Which can be a very dark side of human nature.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
Fantastic insight into the darkside
Great book which opens your mind to a vast array of new ideas. Highly recommended.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- richard2
- 19-05-23
Never felt much further on…
this is obviously a very difficult subject without easy answers bit I’m not sure there is less confusion around a definition of evil on listening to this than there was beforehand .
Less illuminating than other courses I’ve followed.
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