The Science of Revenge - How to Understand and Overcome the World's Most Pernicious Addiction

Revenge - the hidden addiction that currently plagues humanity. Researchers have identified retaliation in response to real and perceived wrongs as the root cause of most forms of human aggression and violence. From vicious tweets to road rage, murder and suicide and armed insurgency, perpetrators almost always see themselves as victims seeking justice. We crave revenge when someone has physically or emotionally wronged us. And this is a growing problem in an age of influential social networks that make it easy to offend and outrage millions of people at once, with the result that those millions of people will at one point seek revenge for the same thing. This book explores in depth the surprising findings of a new neuroscience on the nature of revenge, helping us to understand the seemingly senseless cruelty and violence that people inflict on each other. Above all, however, it focuses on how understanding revenge as an addictive process can help individuals and groups to control the desire to hurt people who have hurt us and to protect themselves and their loved ones from potential harm.