Narcissism. Machiavellianism. Psychopathy. The so-called 'dark triad' of evil personality traits. We have all encountered evil people in our lives, but what does that really mean? Today on the Truth Perspective we look at the psychology of evil, the relation of various measures of such personalities with the Big 5 personality traits, and the correlations with violent, criminal behavior. Is evil just an unfortunate collection of interacting genes? An unfortunate collection of traits on the...

Economists say obesity and its consequences cost our society $190 billion annually in health care and lost productivity. So our government overlords and health officials want to find effective strategies to discourage people from over-consuming sugary drinks and junk foods. They hope to accomplish this gargantuan feat through taxation that generates billions of dollars in revenue that will allegedly go toward schemes that will lay the framework for a healthy utopia where everyone is,...

The shocking assassination Friday of Aleksandr Zakharchenko, leader of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, may end the Minsk Agreements and reignite the Donbass insurgency against Kiev rule. The elimination of a high-profile Russian ally in Ukraine was almost certainly done with one eye on the developing 'mother-of-all-stand-offs' between Russian-Syrian forces and terrorist-F.UK.US forces in and around Syria. With the Russian government alerting the world to another imminent...

Are criminals born or made? Do they choose to act in antisocial ways, or do they lack free will? How does crime relate to personality? Is there a criminal personality? And can they change? On today's Truth Perspective we share our thoughts on Stanton Samenow's book Inside the Criminal Mind, the science of personality disorders, violence, how thoughts determine behavior, and how it all relates to the Big 5 personality traits. Running Time: 01:06:00 Download: MP3

Cookies, candy bars, pizza, chips, ice cream, french fries -- what do they all have in common? Incredibly blissful combinations of sugar, salt and fat not found in nature. This is no accident. Big Food Processors, like drug dealers, make a conscious effort to hook consumers and keep them coming back for more of the good stuff. Junk foods activate the same pleasure centers in the brain as opiate drugs. So is it any wonder that food cravings, binges and addictions are so tough to beat or that...

Senator John 'The Maverick' McCain III is dead. This week on NewsReal, Joe and Niall look back on the illustrious career of an American hero and titan of US politics, whose indelible contributions to the War Party over four decades have earned him a place in the pantheon of Exceptionalistan. Also this week: 'revelations' in two court cases stemming from the Mueller investigation produced a terrible week for President Trump, spurring the media to again go all out with calls for his...

Renowned neuroscientist Antonio Damasio's newest book, The Strange Order of Things: Life, Feeling, and the Making of Cultures, makes some revolutionary claims. All organisms with nervous systems have consciousness. Feeling-based images are at the root all human experience. Consciousness would be impossible without feelings, which provide the subjective experience of homeostasis - a biological state of order that aims toward the future. Culture is rooted in feeling and is the complex means by...

Post-9/11, the 'Global War on Terror' and the US-led wars in the Middle East produced foreseeable consequences, chief among which was the displacement of millions of people, many of whom relocated as far away as western Europe and north America. While this was going on, political movements sprang up in reaction to the terrorism and the mass immigration, with the target of that reaction being Islam and Muslims. The result, in just a short period of time, has been a 'perfect storm' of social...

Random mutations. Natural selection. Time. According to the neo-Darwinian conception of evolution, this is all it takes. But there's a problem. In fact, there are several. No one has been able to demonstrate this model in the lab. Random mutations are either neutral or fatal to the organisms in which they occur. But natural selection only works on traits that are already there. So how to the new traits get there? How does genetic mutation actually occur? As shown in lab experiments, it is...

There's the old adage that money does not buy everything. But looking at the state of the world today, it seems the adage hasn't been taken to heart by the majority on our planet. The corruption of science, our food and agriculture systems, the medical establishment, industry - virtually everywhere you look, the worship of the almighty dollar takes precedence over the worthy goal of bettering human and planetary life. But for some, money does not buy a clear conscience. There are many...