Breaking Bad Syndrome: Becoming Heisenberg

Many violent acts are the result of the desire to "do good" as explained by two anthropologists in their provocative book called ‘virtuous violence‘. “Violent acts may seem unacceptable to most of society but they make sense and are necessary for those who practice them. These people feel they have to make someone pay for their wrongdoing, teach a lesson, or instill obedience.”Argue its authors.

The book has its origins in an investigation of the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), headed by Alan Page Fiske and Tage Shakti Rai. Both researchers maintain that the majority of criminals and people who commit acts of violence follow the same pattern of behavior as the protagonist of the famous television series "Breaking Bad", and they carry out violent acts motivated by the desire to do good. Namely, it is quite common to exert violence against others for thinking that this is defending a moral cause.

Breaking Bad syndrome: the influence of personal beliefs and violence

In the television series in which they were inspired, the protagonist

Walter White he becomes a drug dealer after learning that he suffers from cancer. In his thinking, his father's duty makes him enter the world of drug trafficking since he feels forced to leave a good economic legacy to his family and obtain the money necessary to pay his treatment.

“Self-morale is not only about being good, polite, and peaceful, it also includes the feeling that, in In some cases, there is an obligation to do something without taking into account the practical consequences, ”he explains in an interview. to BBC World Alan Page Fiske of the UCLA School of Anthropology.

Research data

According to the BBC article, Fiske and Rai's conclusions are the consequence of the analysis of hundreds of studies on violence carried out in different parts of the world. These, in turn, were made up of thousands of interviews with criminals. After reviewing all the data they had, found moral motivations even behind suicide, war, and rape, although they admit that there are exceptions that confirm the rule. "Except for some psychopaths, almost no one harms another with the intention of being bad, ”explains Fiske. The researcher clarifies, "that his study does not justify those who commit violent acts, but rather exposes the reasons why they carry them out."

In their book, Fiske and Rai set the example of people who mistreat their children or their partners. Although from the point of view of society they are wrong, they are convinced that they are doing the right thing. The perception that their victims must obey them is the result of their beliefs.

An example of the influence of beliefs on violent acts: the Nazis

Before becoming chancellor of Germany, Adolf hitler he was obsessed with ideas about race. In his speeches and in his writings, Hitler contaminated German society with his belief in the superiority of the "Aryan race".

• And, in fact, it was during the Third Reich that some of the most heinous animations occurred "in the name of science." You can find out by reading the article "Human experiments during Nazism".

When Hitler came to power, these beliefs became ideology of the government and they were broadcast on posters, on the radio, in movies, classrooms, and newspapers. The Nazis began to put their ideology into practice with the support of German scientists who believed that the human race could be improved by limiting the reproduction of those people who considered lower. The truth is that the events that occurred during the Nazi holocaust, they were produced by normal people who weren't especially bad citizens. Hitler, with his anti-Semitic campaign, made the German people believe that the superior races not only had the right but also had an obligation to exterminate the inferior ones. For them, the struggle of races was consistent with the laws of nature.

This shows, therefore, that much of the human violence has its roots in the beliefs. If the key to eradicating violent behavior is to change beliefs, by changing them, we will also be changing the perception of what is right or wrong.