Philip Zimbardo: Why ordinary people do evil ... or do good
BackPhilip Zimbardo knows how easy it is for nice people to turn bad. In this talk, he shares insights and graphic unseen photos from the Abu Ghraib trials. Then he talks about the flip side: how easy it is to be a hero, and how we can rise to the challenge.
Channel: Science & Technology
Uploaded: September 23, 2008 at 5:28 pm
Author: TEDtalksDirector
Length: 00:23:11
Rating: 4.82
Views: 33574
Tags: Philip Zimbardo TED TEDtalks talks Children Culture Education Global Issues Peace Photography Psychology War
Video Comments:
lifeisgummo (November 18, 2008 at 6:48 pm)
Rape is very common among species, our morality has came down through trial & error over the centurys. But remember, there are still cultures in the world where they still live under nomadic, tribal & very basic societies. It's normality there.
Jillybeans25 (November 19, 2008 at 12:52 am)
You DO realize that to some extent you're justifying & legitimizing rape, right? You're saying it's OK for some people in some places at some times to rape others. Societal acceptance doesn't make something OK. Again, I would point to Nazi Germany. Frequency of occurrence doesn't make something OK either. And if morality is but trial and error, mere happenstance, then why give a rip about anything? Then there's no such thing as kindness or cruelty - they're all constructions.
lifeisgummo (November 19, 2008 at 5:12 am)
No, to no extent am i justifying it. Just because i'm stating something that happens doesnt mean i'm standing up for it. Human morality is a strange thing, early humans would have lived in small settlements & i'm sure village to village morals would have been different. Recently through trial & error & usage of comminication with denser population can we take a good look at our situation & start assessing how we would like to live together. We truly are in the adolescent stage of our species
adolthitler (November 17, 2008 at 8:34 am)
I saw a flash of the mic cord behind his neck and thought he was wearing his shirt while it was still on a wire hanger.
ThisHereUsername (November 10, 2008 at 5:42 pm)
Zimbardo's use of the terms "Good" and "Evil" always troubles me. The terms might be useful as shorthand for ideas like "conforms to/acts against societal expectations," but I cringe every time I read one of his papers or listen to one of his talks--even while looking at peoples' outside influences, the connotations of the words are horrendously problematic in psychological discussions.
vokshumana (November 6, 2008 at 5:37 am)
I think what is missing here is that humans are not rational beings, their brains are functioning primarily on self-defense mechanisms, delusions, prejudices, faith, will...
drewsuff (November 6, 2008 at 9:45 am)
I would have to totally disagree. Humans are very rational. The difference though is that all huimans are not rational in the same way. We all have different patterns of reasoning and therfore will not all come to the same conclusions or course of action.
vokshumana (November 7, 2008 at 1:49 am)
Drewsuff, I don't want to enter into arguing with you, obviously you are intelligent person, it is easy for two people who think differently to agree to some extent, and to disagree with people who don't think. Depending on situation, sometimes lazy stupidity is better survival technique than wasting energy in reasoning.
jnort122 (November 19, 2008 at 2:28 am)
Humans are very capable of rationality. The rape example for instance, to that rapist - it was rational. They convinced themselves with a logical argument that it was rational.
The question is: Was it reasonable? It may have made rational sense, meaning logical steps according to their definitions and perspectives, but does it stack against society's view of what 'makes sense' or what is reasonable. Obviously not.
The question is: Was it reasonable? It may have made rational sense, meaning logical steps according to their definitions and perspectives, but does it stack against society's view of what 'makes sense' or what is reasonable. Obviously not.
hannaremnant (November 3, 2008 at 9:40 pm)
so, evil exists but whether you allow it to.
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