The Murderer Next Door
Why the Mind Is Designed to Kill
An evolutionary psychologist argues that homicidal thinking is far more common than we admit, and asks why.
Buss argues from survey data and homicide statistics that thoughts of killing are far more common than people admit, and that the mind carries adaptations for it. The claim is contested; the book makes it carefully, distinguishing the thought from the act and setting out what the evolutionary case would require.
Recommended by 1 Person
Bruce Schneier
There have been a number of books about the violent nature of humans, particularly men. I chose The Murderer Next Door both because it is well-written and because it is relatively new, published in 2005. David M Buss is a psychologist, and he writes well about the natural murderousness of our species. There’s a lot of data to support natural human murderousness, and not just murder rates in modern societies.
Interview · February 2012
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