The Son

by Jo Nesbø

Determined by the composition of chemical substances in your brain, available information, survival instinct, sexual urges, mortal fear, learned morality and herd instinct. We don’t punish people because they are evil, but because they make bad choices, choices that are bad for the herd. Morality isn’t heaven-sent or eternal, just a set of rules that benefit the herd. And those who are incapable of following the rules, the accepted pattern of behaviour, will never be able to conform because they have no free will; it’s an illusion. Like the rest of us, lawbreakers just do what they do. That is why they must be eliminated to ensure they don’t procreate and so infect the herd with their negative behaviour genes.