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Journal Blawg 100!    “I punish you because you harmed him!”
Friday, April 27, 2012 posted by Rita Handrich  Humans appear to
be the only species who are willing to punish others who lie,
cheat, steal or violate social norms even when they [the
punisher] were personally unharmed or don’t stand to directly
benefit from punishing the wrong-doer. The practice is called
“third-party punishment”. Ironically, punishment itself is
thought to have a foundational role in maintaining the level of
cooperation in our modern societies. We obey rules and cooperate
with each other to avoid punishment.  New research by
neuroscientists [Buckholtz & Marois, 2012] indicates that we
make decisions to punish bad behavior based on an evaluation of
the actions and mental intentions of the criminal defendant.
Rather than being impartial decision-makers who employ logic and
rationality–much of our motivation for punishing seems to be
driven by our own negative emotional rea