Summary Of The Murderer Next Door: Why The Mind Is Designed To Kill

Whether appearing on breaking news headlines, or vividly depicted in mainstream contemporary entertainment, murder and the act of murdering are no foreign concept to the public. But, one thought still perplexes our mind: “How can someone ever think of committing such a heinous act?”. In The Murderer Next Door: Why the Mind is Designed to Kill by David M. Buss, he explains the mind’s inner workings that can compel us to find murder as actually, a rational thing to do. He breaks the preconceived idea and definition of what it takes to be a murderer, such as only the mentally insane can be murders (brought on by only shocking/”news-worthy” depictions of serial killers/ psychopaths in today’s movies, games , or news) or that today’s mainstream media

These theories imply that thought or the actions or murder can be caused by the brain being damage. The amygdala, for example, are two almond-shaped neural clusters that can influence aggression and fear. If this area of the brain were to be damaged, then a person could no longer evoke or feel these emotions, causing them to not feel the fear or danger of committing murder. Another area of the brain that can be damaged may be the frontal lobes, which help in planning/judgements and decision making. If this area of the brain were to be damaged, then one could possibly not think through the act of murder and all of the potential repercussions. But, as Buss discussed, when he did a study of Michigan murderers, where “in collaboration with Dr. Carol Holden, director of Evaluation Services at the Forensic Center, and Joshua Duntley, [he] has studied case files of 375 murders committed over the past 15 years.” (17), he only found that “4 percent had a diagnosis of psychosis or some other disorder sufficient to qualify for the insanity defense.” (22) This means that most of the murders committed are from mentally-sound people, which agains disproves pathology