Are People Born Bad? - Dr Kathryn Paige Harden (Video)

In this 2 March 2026 published Modern Wisdom video, host Chris Williamson talks with Dr. Kathryn Paige Harden, a psychologist and behavioural geneticist, Professor of Psychology at the University of Texas in Austin and an author.

Are people born evil, or does evil emerge from circumstance? While we tend to blame genetics for humanity’s darkest behaviours, science and psychology suggest a far more complicated picture. If biology, environment, and experience all shape behaviour, how should society judge, or punish, those who may never have had full control over who they became?

Expect to learn what Kathryn learned from her first 4 million-person study, what the evolutionary roots of aggression, dominance, and impulsivity are, if there is a heritability of antisocial behaviour, why punishment is a useful tool for responding to harm, what Kathryn makes of the looksmaxxing movement, and more.

https://youtu.be/ChqHltuMpM4

0:00 Why Kathryn’s Last Book Was So Controversial
5:28 What Actually Pushes People to Take Risks?
9:21 What Drew Kathryn to the World of Antisocial Behaviour?
11:59 How Have We Evolved to Become Deviant?
20:48 Should You Really Wait Until 30 To Try Drugs?
25:02 Is Punishment More About Circumstance Than Crime?
31:02 How Much Deviance is Written in Our DNA?
35:14 Why Bad Behaviour in Kids Makes Us So Uncomfortable
43:01 When Do You Become Truly Responsible For Your Actions?
47:43 Is Addiction in Your Genes?
53:47 Are Men More Prone to Antisocial Traits?
1:03:24 If It’s Genetic, How Do We Justify Punishment?
1:11:09 Should Genetic Disadvantage Mean Lighter Sentences?
1:26:52 Why Do We Crave Retribution?
1:32:05 Why Do We Take Pleasure From Scrutinising Other?
1:43:15 Does Incarceration Actually Work?
1:51:49 Why We Need to Question Our Own Moral Instincts
1:58:14 Why is Epigenetic Inheritance So Controversial?
2:04:50 Does Environment During Pregnancy Shape a Child’s Genes?
2:10:11 How Much of Motherhood is Just Luck?
2:13:46 Kathryn’s Stance on Embryo Selection
2:29:37 Will Embryo Selection Save Us From a Crumbling Genome?
2:36:45 Is Dissuading Men From Their Genetic Behaviour Unfair?
2:49:25 Is Looksmaxxing Actually Damaging Our Genetics?
2:59:55 Where to Find Kathryn