“The world is, was, will always be filled with good and evil, because good and evil is the yin and yang of the human condition.” WorldHumansEvilConditionsFilledGood And EvilHuman ConditionYangYin And Yang Author:Philip Zimbardo
“The [Stanford Prison Experiment] was readily approved by the Human Subjects Research committee because it seemed like college kids playing cops and robbers, it was an experiment that anyone could quit at any time and minimal safeguards were in place. You must distinguish hind sight from fore sight, knowing what you know now after the study is quite different from what most people imagined might happen before the study began.” PeopleKnowsHumansDifferentMightHappensKidsKnowingStudySubjectsCollegeResearchSightPrisonQuittingExperimentsCopCommitteesApprovedRobbersStanfordKids PlayingCops And Robbers Author:Philip Zimbardo
“As we have come to understand the psychology of evil, we have realized that such transformations of human character are not as rare as we would like to believe. Historical inquiry and behavioral science have demonstrated the "banality of evil" -- that is, under certain conditions and social pressures, ordinary people can commit acts that would otherwise be unthinkable.” PeopleBelieveHumansCharacterCertainEvilSocialPsychologyConditionsOrdinaryTransformationPressureHistoricalCommitInquiryOrdinary PeopleUnthinkableBanalitySocial Pressure Author:Philip Zimbardo
“The "Lucifer Effect" describes the point in time when an ordinary, normal person first crosses the boundary between good and evil to engage in an evil action. It represents a transformation of human character that is significant in its consequences. Such transformations are more likely to occur in novel settings, in "total situations," where social situational forces are sufficiently powerful to overwhelm, or set aside temporally, personal attributes of morality, compassion, or sense of justice and fair play.” FirstsHumansPersonsPlayCharacterActionEvilForceSocialJusticePowerfulCompassionSituationNovelEffectsMoralityNormalOrdinaryConsequenceFairsCrossesTransformationSignificantBoundariesSettingSettingsGood And EvilAttributesLuciferFair Play Author:Philip Zimbardo
“That human behavior is more influenced by things outside of us than inside. The situation is the external environment. The inner environment is genes, moral history, religious training.” HumansReligiousSituationMoralEnvironmentBehaviorTrainingGenesHuman BehaviorExternal Environment Author:Philip Zimbardo
“Situational variables can exert powerful influences over human behavior, more so that we recognize or acknowledge.” HumansPowerfulInfluenceHeroBehaviorAcknowledgeHeroicHuman BehaviorVariablesSocial Psychology Author:Philip Zimbardo
“Human behavior is incredibly pliable, plastic.” HumansBehaviorPlasticHuman BehaviorSocial Psychology Author:Philip Zimbardo
“Time perspective is one of the most powerful influences on all of human behavior. We're trying to show how people become biased to being exclusively past-, present- or future-oriented.” PeopleTryingHumansShowsPastTimePowerfulInfluencePerspectiveBehaviorPrejudiceMost PowerfulHuman BehaviorSocial PsychologyBiasedPast Present Author:Philip Zimbardo
“Ideas for my first experiments in human aggression came from discussions we had in a research seminar about William Golding's 'Lord of the Flies.'” FirstsHumansIdeasLordResearchExperimentsDiscussionAggressionSeminars Author:Philip Zimbardo
“We want to believe in the essential, unchanging goodness of people, in their power to resist external pressures, in their rational appraisal and then rejection of situational temptations. We invest human nature with God-like qualities, with moral and rational faculties that make us both just and wise. We simplify the complexity of human experience by erecting a seemingly impermeable boundary between Good and Evil.” PeopleWantBelieveHumansEvilQualityMoralWiseHuman NatureEssentialsGoodnessPressureBoundariesRationalTemptationRejectionComplexityGood And EvilFacultyHuman ExperienceSimplifyUnchangingAppraisalComplexity Of Human Author:Philip Zimbardo
“The most dramatic instances of directed behavior change and "mind control" are not the consequence of exotic forms of influence, such as hypnosis, psychotropic drugs, or "brainwashing," but rather the systematic manipulation of the most mundane aspects of human nature over time in confining settings.” MindHumansFormInfluenceHuman NatureDrugBehaviorConsequenceAspectSettingSettingsInstanceDramaticManipulationMundaneExoticSystematicMind ControlBrainwashingHypnosisBehavior Change Book:The Lucifer Effect: How Good People Turn Evil Source: The Lucifer Effect: How Good People Turn Evil
“... In contrast to the "banality of evil," which posits that ordinary people can be responsible for the most despicable acts of cruelty and degradation of their fellows, I posit the "banality of heroism," which unfurls the banner of the heroic Everyman and Everywoman who heed the call to service to humanity when their time comes to act. When that bell rings, they will know that it rings for them. It sounds a call to uphold what is best in human nature that rises above the powerful pressures of Situation and System as the profound assertion of human dignity opposing evil.” PeopleKnowsHumansHumanityEvilSoundPowerfulSituationHuman NatureHeroOrdinaryDignityPressureResponsibleFellowsProfoundRingsCrueltyHeroicContrastBellsHeroismOrdinary PeopleRise AboveAssertionOpposingHeedDegradationBeing ResponsibleHuman DignityBannerDespicableService To HumanityBanalityEveryman Author:Philip Zimbardo
“The Devil's strategy for our times is to trivialize human existence and isolate us from one another while creating the delusion that the reasons are time pressures, work demands or economic anxieties.” HumansReasonFearExistenceAtheismEconomicDemandAnxietyCreatingDevilPressureStrategyRageOur TimeDelusionHuman Existence Author:Philip Zimbardo
“We like to think there is this core of human nature – that good people can't do bad things, and that good people will dominate over bad situations. Infact, when we look at the Stanford prison studies, that we put good people in an evil place, and we saw who won. Well, the sad message in this, is in this case is the evil place won over the good people.” PeopleThinkingHumansWellsLooksEvilSituationCasesStudySawsHuman NatureMessagesPrisonCoreBad ThingsGood PeopleStanfordBad Situations Author:Philip Zimbardo
