The mind is one of the most complicated things about being human. The way the mind works has both confused and interested people for as long as anyone can remember. Scientists, philosophers, and psychologists have tried to
figure out how the mind works. Most people think that our behavior and actions are affected by our minds. So, a lot of research has been done to figure out what goes on in a person’s mind before they do something good or bad.
Some attempts to learn more about the human mind have focused on the brain. These studies look at the physical parts of the brain, with a focus on how information is taken in, processed, interpreted, and stored. Basically, they want to find out more about how the brain can change the way a person thinks. Studies like these have made it possible for us to learn more about how to treat painful conditions like Alzheimer’s, problems with perception, and even memory loss.
Psychology is the most well-known part of the study of the human mind.
At some point in our lives, we have either talked to a psychologist or known someone who did to help them through their toughest emotional battles. A lot of the time, the things we go through in life break us in ways we can’t fix on our own. Sometimes the breakup is caused by biological traits that we got from our parents. Depression, anxiety, and fear darken our daily lives and make it hard for us to do well. We can protect ourselves from the darkness inside by taking drugs and going to therapy.
But what about the evil in other people?
The study of the human condition
Everyone has the potential to do a lot of good. We also have the power to do terrible things. Under feelings like sadness, depression, joy, and happiness is a deep desire that can make us hurt others on purpose if we don’t learn to control it. These darker wants come from more basic instincts like our “flight or fight” response, which helps us stay alive. People’s reactions to these dark emotions can sometimes only be described with one word: evil.
Dark psychology is the study of the human condition and how it makes people want to hurt other people. Dark psychology, in simple terms, looks at the part of human nature that makes it possible for us to do things on purpose that hurt other people. Keep in mind that using someone as prey in this way doesn’t have to mean hurting them physically, though there is a branch of dark psychology that is all about this.
In the next chapters, we’ll talk briefly about these things to help us understand the topic better.
You may have seen or read things that made you think of the phrase “a darkness within.” Some of the most well-known philosophers have talked about this. Christians‘ most important book says, “The heart of man is desperately wicked.” We’ve all met that one person who seems very calm or reserved in social situations, but then does something so sneaky that it’s hard to believe it came from that person. We are that person sometimes. Even though it seems shocking, it’s not really that shocking.
Those cases are just reactions to things going on in the outside world. So to speak, the pot was stirred, and the dark feelings that were hiding underneath came to the surface. Most of the time, they go away once control is gained. When the right “buttons” are pushed, everyone has a hidden tendency to be a little bad or even really bad. On the other hand, some other people are fully in charge of these dark feelings. They care for them and feed them, and when it’s good for them, they let them loose at the expense of someone else.
Sometimes, these feelings are formed when people are young. A child learns that when he or she cries in a certain way, adults rush to do what the child wants. If the parents don’t teach the child early enough that this is wrong, the child will grow up thinking that they can get people to do what they want. As they get older, they won’t be able to use crying as a weapon anymore, but they will still use it to get what they want. When they don’t use tears, they use other emotions to get their victims to do what they want. So, a childish act that started out as harmless turns into a dark need to control.
The intensity of this person’s actions would depend on how far they would go to get their way. Dark psychology is all about figuring out how someone like this thinks. It tries to figure out why people do these things, what patterns they show from before they do these things to after they do them, and how someone can willingly do these things even though they know they might hurt or hurt someone else. The dark side of human nature is shown by dark psychology.