Why We Hate

This book is a great read. The author does a great job of uncovering the mechanism behind the human tendency to steoreotype about a person, a group of people and oneself. The book is extremely well written and well researched. The author describe hatred as a complex emotion created by an imbalance between different parts of the brain leading to, among other things, racism, sexism, and phobia. The book help answers lot of questions, I had, for example, how the brain process violence in the media or whether there is a connection between intolerance and lack of self-esteem, etc. The author provides biological, cultural and social conditions, that lead to hatred, dehumanizing of another person/group and eventually acts of violence (e.g. war, crime, etc). The examples include many types of violent acts, from honor killings to Timothy McVeigh and from serial homicide to depression induced suicide. Familiar headlines help the reader follow the rather unique and complex description of the human brain. The book also makes a convincing case of why raising gender rights will help to curb hatred in the world. Towards the end of the book, the author cites examples of society where hatred is uncommon and provides strategy to elimiate hatred. Important takeaway: Hate is extraordinarily difficult and dangerous to overcome but peace cannot be maintained without addressing the problem of hatred.I can't wait to read Dozier other book, Fear Itself.

This book tries to explain why people varying from Osama Bin Ladin to Dylan Klebold lack all empathy for their victims, and why they hate. It is also about why we hate. The author looks at neurobiology, psychology and history.I do have somewhat of a gripe with some of his history though. He treats the Arab-Israel conflict as a sort of feud, and thats not what it is. A peace-loving country can be surrounded by neighbors who use violence to destroy it, and so it must use violence to defend itself. It doesn't take two to make war, it just takes one aggressor, and one country that refuses to be a victim. For instance, the US didn't invade Afghanistan because it hated Afghans, or Moslems. It invaded largely to defend itself, and after the invasion we learned just how extensive the Al Queda training camps were and how they saw our cities as their targets.Talking about "cycles of violence" doesn't make sense in this type of context. Rush Dozier does not regard the US action against the Taliban as a feud or cycle of violence, which is good, but he does view the Israel situation that way, which is bad.

I like that way that the author explains the biological reasons for hate and the ways that hate can be reduced and avoided by training and education. I particularly like the way that the author excludes any religious angles, and sticks to the science of the matter.

Checked out from library, read intro... I like the brain-based approach, but would be more complete with a religious angle on contributing to ending hate. Up to date with references to 9-11.