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The science behind sin

Researchers try to make sense of our darker impulses, and may just help save us from ourselves

By Karen Weintraub

 |  Globe Correspondent  

  May 21, 2012

Most of us don't go around obsessing about the Seven Deadly Sins — most of us probably couldn’t name them — but the transgressions defined during early Christian times still cross our consciousness on a regular basis. Who hasn't worried about eating too much, or been distressed by someone else's anger? Turns out, these “sins” are often the subjects of scientific study. Researchers gathered at the MIT Museum last month to describe work they've conducted relevant to the deadly seven.

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