One of the most frequently cited facts of life is that there is only one race, the human race. It is said in order to counteract racism. And it is said to show how much all people have in common -- our “common humanity.”

The first reason is good and valid. The notion that there is something significant that divides the races is indeed absurd. Beyond skin color, nothing divides the various races.

But in its latter meaning -- that there is one human race, one humanity, to which we all belong, I am increasingly of the opinion that this is not so.

A lifetime of study of good and evil has led me to a wholly unexpected conclusion: There may not be one human race; there may well be a genuine divide among humans.

It seems that there is a certain percentage of humanity that can engage in acts of surpassing cruelty that the rest of us could not engage in. These people really do seem to be members of a different race. Biologically speaking, they are of course human beings, Homo sapiens. But in a fundamental way they are members of another species as well -- an offshoot of human being that may still be part of some part of the animal kingdom to which the rest of us do not belong.

I know this sounds silly. For years I myself rejected the idea. But if there really is a sliver of human beings that can engage in acts that the rest cannot, what other explanation is there?

Well, two are offered: conditions and conditioning.

Conditions: Some argue that such evil is a matter of external conditions -- that under the right conditions just about everyone would inflict horrific cruelty on their fellow human being. That is the conclusion that Professor Stanley Milgram drew from his world famous obedience test at Yale University.

Conditioning: The other argument against the notion of two species of human beings is that with the right conditioning anyone can be led to do anything to anyone.

I believe both arguments have merit but do not address the point I am making. Continued...