 That's right. So in this video, we're going to be diving into the moral philosophy of Onision. So in this video, we're going to be doing some critical thinking. So if you are incapable of having a mature conversation to just kind of think and ponder on some things, this is the wrong video for you. What is up everybody? This is Chris from the Rewired Soul where we talk about the problem, but focus on the solution. And if you're new to my channel, what I try to do is take different topics from the YouTube community, from pop culture and try to see what lessons we can learn from them. So if you're into that stuff, make sure you subscribe and ring that notification bell. And if you're not yet, make sure you follow me over on Instagram and Twitter at the Rewired Soul. Oh, and by the way, I got to cut this in and editing because I forgot to say it at the intro. But anyways, those of you who saw my last video, you know I used to have a policy, do not talk about Onision. So what I am doing is any of my videos on Onision that are actually monetized, I am giving 100% of the AdSense revenue to Charity. All right? The charity that I've picked for these Onision videos is RAINN. I will also put a link down in the description and in the pinned comment below if you would like to donate to this amazing organization directly. All right? So my channel and a bunch of other creators, like your channels just kind of evolve and grow and change. I think a great example of this is Shane Dawson. Like when I first started watching him with my son, he was like trying weird foods and like weird life hacks and stuff like that. And I was doing like these insane series. But anyways, something that I've been really fascinated with recently is moral philosophy, moral psychology and everything like that. But like I said, like when I do these videos, like it's really going to weed people out. People who are not interested in critical thinking and trying to have an intelligent dialogue, these videos aren't going to be for you. So this might get rid of a bunch of people who aren't into that stuff and that's cool. But we're going to be having tough conversations. And I'm doing this video first. I have another video planned for tomorrow, but if you can handle this video, tomorrow's video, I'm a little bit worried about because we're going to get even more controversial. All right? So anyways, I am absolutely fascinated by human nature. Okay? Like especially after going through what I went through this year, just seeing how people respond, seeing how people's emotions get the best of them, just seeing how we throw away logic and rationale just like as soon as we get emotional, right? And I've been really just researching and trying to figure out why that is. And I've just been reading a ton. So when I sit back and I kind of analyze Onision, I'm fascinated, right? Because the dude is a bad dude, right? But like most of the channels you're watching, they pretty much just end there. Like that is the, that is the ceiling, right? They're like, this guy is bad. He does bad things, right? And I want to do something different, like, let's explore this a little bit more. All right? So those of you who watched the video I did on Repzilla the other day, I referenced this essay called The Myth of Pure Evil. And I'm going to link it again down in the description below. But I want to start this out by reading this really interesting section from The Myth of Pure Evil, from Roy Baumeister. All right? The myth of pure evil may also be important for us as social scientists to understand for methodological reasons. We researchers are people too and come to the problem of evil with the same ideas, images, and prejudices that others in our culture have. Our initial tendency will be to view the perpetrators of evil through the lens of this myth and to assimilate their actions to it. In a revealing passage in The Nazi Doctors, Robert J. Lifton remarked that when interviewing some of these men, he occasionally began to see the world and events as the man himself had seen them and to begin to feel some sympathy towards the man. At that point, Lifton said he always pulled back and reminded himself that this person was an evil monster, not a decent human being like the rest of us. While I sympathize with Lifton's moral convictions, to me that point is precisely where he fails as a social scientist. This captures the dilemma that I noted earlier of the conflict between scientific understanding of evil and moral judgment of it. To refuse to understand the perpetrators in their own terms is ultimately to abandon the project of scientific understanding in favor of a moral condemnation. My preference is that if you want to understand, then you may have to set aside moral judgments. These people were, after all, people, not evil monsters. We may condemn them and their actions and indeed we should. But perhaps we cannot do that precisely while we are trying to understand them scientifically. Refusing to recognize the humanity of the perpetrator is probably an insurmable obstacle to fully understanding the genesis of his or her violent acts. So what does that mean? That means that this video might not be for you because when you're diving into moral philosophy and moral psychology, you have to get your emotions out of here. You have to throw them away. It's like the first person to jump to opinions based on their emotions rather than sitting back and trying to look at situations as objective as possible, you're out. You're done. So remember that game like red light, green light, right? And you would like go, go, go green light and the red light stop, right? Then you accidentally move and it's like, oh, you're out, right? Like that's kind of what this is like. So basically what Roy Balmeister is saying is this dude, Robert J. Lifton, who is a social scientist, he did a book called The Nazi Doctors, right? And he interviewed Nazi doctors. And through getting to talk to them and everything like that, he started to understand what they were doing and sympathize with them. And he would snap out of him and be like, no, no, no, no, these guys are disgusting monsters. Like, if you're a scientist, you cannot do that, right? And when we're looking at these situations, that's how I want to look at them. I want to try to get an understanding. So what I'm getting at is when it comes to Onision, what absolutely fascinates me about him is he doesn't think anything he does is wrong. All right. So this paper is titled The Myth of Pure Evil, because I just want you to sit back and think about that for a second, right? It is very rare that a person is doing something intentionally because they just want to cause chaos and destruction, right? Like when you think about the most devastating acts that have ever happened in the history of mankind, people did it with some kind of motive. People thought they were doing it for a good reason. For example, we just had the anniversary of 9-11 not that long ago. Like the people who did that horrendous act, everybody involved, they thought from their point of view that they were doing something right. All right. So when we look at Onision's moral philosophy and the way he thinks and the way he talks and voices his opinions, right? He thinks that this is the way the world should work, all right? And obviously, it's something that a lot of us disagree with. And some of these things are laws that are actually against the things that he is doing, right? But whenever I look at situations like this, and I'm really trying to analyze them, I look at a person's past too. Like how did this person become the way they are? So I've referenced some books from like Jonathan Height and some other amazing authors, philosophers, psychologists and everything like that. And they've proven that even babies, like by the time they're about two or three years old, they start to develop morals, all right? So they know the difference between right and wrong. Even kids, like before they even understand the whole world and how it works. They understand the difference between right and wrong. So we start to look at what has formed these people. So when you look at someone like Onision, I am not like a Repseon when it comes to Onision. I don't know his full history. But from what I've learned, it sounds like Onision had an abusive childhood. And this is one of the reasons why I say like parents straighten up your game, all right? Because like when you mess up a kid, they turn into a messed up adults and they start messing up other people. And Onision is a prime example of something like that. But again, in his mind, he thinks this is correct. His entire worldview has been shaped and molded by his life experiences. But it's been shaped and molded, you know, in a similar way that all of ours have been shaped. And what I mean is just this is how we become who we become. So I look at that and I'm like, wow, this is who he turned into. But it's also interesting. See, they've done a lot of studies on twins, all right? So you get identical sets of DNA. And you try to see if life experiences change people. So they've actually done studies where they've had identical twins who one of them, you know, went more liberal and one of them went more conservative or one of them went on a path of success and one of them turned into a drug addict and things like that. So we see how situations mold people and turn them into who they are, right? So when you look at it through that lens, it's really fascinating. So the last thing I want to talk about to kind of analyze Onision's moral philosophy is actually a comment that I got on my last video. So Em Ross said he bases a lot of his opinions and justifications on the law, but that's not good enough. Just because it's legal doesn't mean it's moral or ethical. And the same with things that are illegal that really shouldn't be like gay marriage, for instance, was against the law and still is in many places. So I think that's a very, very good point, all right? Like some people, this is why I disagree with the moral philosophy of Onision, because he tries to say that about the law. Like, remember when he like freaked out on that girl for smoking pot and wanted her tattoo like liar or whatever. And his whole basis on that was because it was illegal. Like laws, like Em Ross just pointed out, laws are not always moral or ethical, all right? You guys have to remember it was just a couple hundred years ago where it was legal to own other people, all right? So we really need to think about that. And even when we're kind of critically thinking about the laws that we all live by, like, is this, does this line up with my morals, right? And this is what you see with just even, you know, with the upcoming elections next year, right? It's different people who have different moral values. And yeah, I disagree with the law aspect of it. Now, there are plenty of laws out there like don't kill anybody that are excellent, all right? But for example, like weed, like a lot of the weed laws where like weed is still like not legal, like I live in Nevada, it's legal here and I don't even smoke, but I'm like, good, like, why would that be illegal? But alcohol isn't when it kills way more people, you know what I mean? So anyways, these are just some things that I want you to think about. And I would love to hear your thoughts down in the comments below because I love diving into this stuff. And let me know what you think about the myth of pure evil. Let me know, is it difficult for you to look at these situations without letting your emotions and your own biases just run out of control, right? Are you able to step away from that for a second and just kind of analyze these situations like a scientist? Let me know down in the comments below. All right? But anyways, that's all I got for this video. If you liked this video, please give it a thumbs up. If you're new, make sure you subscribe and ring that notification bell. And a huge, huge thank you to everybody supporting the channel over on Patreon and everybody who supports the channel in other ways, like in my books and merch and all that kind of good stuff. All right? Thanks again for watching. I'll see you next time.