Philip Zimbardo talks about how people have the ability to become monsters or heroes. The choice is up to each individual. He shows graphic pictures of our own U.S military torturing prisoners and dehumanizing them basically. It's a very touchy subject as we all know because, well, they're our own military. We stand behind them because they fight for our freedom. But that doesn't mean that each one is a hero. He makes that argument by showing those images. They were all each heroes until they went into the basement and humiliated these prisoners and decided to take pictures and record them doing such acts. And the fact that they were all smiling and giving thumbs up next to these prisoners makes it a lot harder to defend them. But when is someone considered a "hero" and what makes someone a "monster"?
That's what Zimbardo explains in his video. Everyone starts off as a normal human until something changes. Either their look, their attitude, or their environment. Same for a hero. A hero, though, has to wait for the perfect opportunity to show themselves to the world and to show everyone that they are a true hero. Anyone can be a hero, one just has to wait for the opportunity to present itself. When it does, though, how will you know what the right choice is?
I truly agree with his comment that "all evil starts at 15 volts." Nobody wakes up ready to destroy the world and inflict pain and misery. Many times their initial purpose was to make the world a better place, or help someone, or fix something that was wrong. But they became to dedicated and eventually consumed by their cause that they simply became a different problem. It's scary to think that you can dedicate your whole life mission to one thing and makes so many great things happen for that just to turn around and realize that you became a new problem, in and of yourself.
ReplyDeleteWell that was pretty psychological. Pretty much all of the video was examining people's decision making and what determines it. I think that there is a lot to be said for these kind of studies. Personally I think that the studies that people created to examine these psychological faults were rather disturbing. The whole thing reminded me of 'Lord of the Flies' in which a large group of kids is stranded on an island and eventually resorts to murder and violence for power. It's a very interesting thing the human mind. I don't pretend to understand it, nor do I think anyone does. I think no one ever will. But I do hope that more people fight against the crowd. I hope that more people stand up for something, rather than let society dictate what is ok. Sadly, I think too many people are too focused on what they can do with power or what they can get away with as just being 'another one of the crowd.'
ReplyDeleteI'm a fan of Zimbardo, and I thought this talk was very effective and disturbing. People who address this subject tend to focus on Nazi Germany as an example of evil. By choosing Abu Ghraib instead, Zimbardo gives the subject a new sense of relevance and applicability.
ReplyDeleteThat said, I'm not sure if I agree with his plan to raise children as heroes. First of all, it would be very difficult to make the proposed switch from traditional heroes, as I think it's natural (and quite possibly important) for children, with their simple worldviews, to be able to see someone as a paragon of heroism and goodness; I would suggest that human nature, not unrealistic heroes, keep us from heroism.
This reminds me of two radiolab episodes (http://www.radiolab.org/2010/dec/14/ and http://www.radiolab.org/2012/jan/09/) which discuss this topic. They're worth a listen if you get the chance.
I think in today's society we are assimilating more to the idea of "What can this world give me" rather than "What can I give to this world." I think this is where most of the evil in humanity comes from in that they lose sight of that natural desire to help others and focus solely on what the can gain for themselves. Its so sad to see how many are so willing to walk over others to get what they want.
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