“Whoever has the power to label others as evil is automatically, or reflexively, the good person. Good people label bad people as evil. And once you do that, then it demonizes them. You don't negotiate with evil. You don't sit down at the table with the devil and say, "Okay, let's work this out." What you want to do is destroy evil. Every Catholic kid every night says, or should say, "Lead us not into temptation, deliver us from evil." And so you've got to go to God to help you deal with evil rather than your State Department or your negotiators.” PeopleWantShouldPersonsStatesHelpingKidsNightEvilDealsDevilOkayCatholicTablesWhat You WantTemptationLabelsDepartmentGood PeopleEvery NightGood PersonBad People Author:Philip Zimbardo
“Part of what we want to do with the Heroic Imagination Project is to get kids to think about what it means to be a hero. The most basic concept of a hero is socially constructed: It differs from culture to culture and changes over time. Think of Christopher Columbus. Until recently, he was a hero. Now he's a genocidal murderer! If he were alive today, he'd say, "What happened? I used to be a hero, and now people are throwing tomatoes at me!” PeopleIfsThinkingWantMeanKidsTodayUsedCultureImaginationAliveHappenedHeroProjectsConceptsUsed To BeThrowingHeroicMurdererLive For TodayTomatoesColumbusChanges Over Time Author:Philip Zimbardo
“Our sense of identity is in large measure conferred on us by others in the ways they treat or mistreat us, recognize or ignore us, praise us or punish us. Some people make us timid and shy; others elicit our sex appeal and dominance. In some groups we are made leaders, while in others we are reduced to being followers. We come to live up to or down to the expectations others have of us.” PeopleWayMadeSexLeaderGroupsIdentityExpectationsTreatsPraiseAppealsShyFollowersDominanceSex AppealMistreat Book:The Lucifer Effect: How Good People Turn Evil Source: The Lucifer Effect: How Good People Turn Evil
“We all like to think that the line between good and evil is impermeable--that people who do terrible things, such as commit murder, treason, or kidnapping, are on the evil side of this line, and the rest of us could never cross it. But the Stanford Prison Experiment and the Milgram studies revealed the permeability of that line. Some people are on the good side only because situations have never coerced or seduced them to cross over.” PeopleThinkingEvilSidesLinesSituationStudyTerribleCrossesMurderPrisonExperimentsCommitGood And EvilTerrible ThingsTreasonKidnappingStanfordEvil Side Author:Philip Zimbardo
“In one sense, the Stanford prison study is more like a Greek drama than a traditional experiment, in that we have humanity, represented by a bunch of good people, pitted against an evil-producing situation. The question is, does the goodness of the people overwhelm the bad situation, or does the bad situation overwhelm the good people?” PeopleDoeHumanityEvilSituationStudyDramaGoodnessPrisonExperimentsBunchTraditionalGreekGood PeopleStanfordBad SituationsGreek Drama 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 first time I spoke publicly about the Stanford Prison Experiment, Stanley Milgram told me: "Your study is going to take all the ethical heat off of my back. People are now going to say yours is the most unethical study ever, and not mine.” PeopleFirstsStudyMinesFirst TimePrisonExperimentsHeatSpokesEthicalStanleyStanfordUnethical Author:Philip Zimbardo
“We want to believe we are good, we are different, we are better, or we are superior. But this body of social-psychological research--and there are obviously many more experiments in addition to mine and Milgram's--shows that the majority of good, ordinary, normal people can be easily seduced, tempted, or initiated into behaving in ways that they say they never would. In 30 minutes we got them stepping across that line.” PeopleWayWantBelieveDifferentShowsBodySocialLinesMinutesMinesNormalResearchOrdinaryMajorityExperimentsSuperiorsPsychologicalTemptedPsychological Research Author:Philip Zimbardo
“For years I've been interested in a fundamental question concerning what I call the psychology of evil: Why is it that good people do evil deeds? I've been interested in that question since I was a little kid. Growing up in the ghetto in the South Bronx, I had lots of friends who I thought were good kids, but for one reason or another they ended up in serious trouble. They went to jail, they took drugs, or they did terrible things to other people. My whole upbringing was focused on trying to understand what could have made them go wrong.” PeopleTryingYearsLittlesMadeReasonWholeKidsEvilGrowing UpPsychologyGrowingTroubleSeriousTerribleDrugFundamentalsSouthDeedsFocusedJailGood PeopleLittle KidTerrible ThingsUpbringingGhettoLots Of FriendsBronxKids Growing Up Author:Philip Zimbardo
“Whether we consider Nazi Germany or Abu Ghraib prison, there were many people who observed what was happening and said nothing. At Abu Ghraib, one photo shows two soldiers smiling before a pyramid of naked prisoners while a dozen other soldiers stand around watching passively. If you observe such abuses and don't say, "This is wrong! Stop it!" you give tacit approval to continue. You are part of the silent majority that makes evil deeds more acceptable.” PeopleIfsGivingSaidTwoShowsEvilHappeningsAbuseMajorityPrisonSilentSoldierDeedsNakedGermanyPrisonerDozenAcceptableApprovalNaziPyramidsNazi GermanyTacitAbu GhraibSilent Majority Author:Philip Zimbardo
“Bullies are often people who are shy and can't make friends easily, so, as the theme of the movie 'A Bronx Tale' tells us, it is better to be feared if you can't be loved.” PeopleIfsTalesThemeShyBullyBronx Author:Philip Zimbardo
“What troubles me is the Internet and the electronic technology revolution. Shyness is fueled in part by so many people spending huge amounts of time alone, isolated on e-mail, in chat rooms, which reduces their face-to-face contact with other people.” PeopleFacesRoomsTechnologyTroubleHugeRevolutionAmountInternetSpendingContactShyMailIsolatedFace To FaceShynessAlone Time Author:Philip Zimbardo
“I have been primarily interested in how and why ordinary people do unusual things, things that seem alien to their natures. Why do good people sometimes act evil? Why do smart people sometimes do dumb or irrational things?” PeopleHas BeensSometimesSeemsEvilHeroSmartOrdinaryAliensDumbGood PeopleUnusualHeroicIrrationalOrdinary PeopleSocial PsychologySmart PeopleUnusual Things 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
“What happens when good people are put into an evil place? Do they triumph or does the situation dominate their past history and morality?” PeopleDoeHappensPastEvilSituationMoralityTriumphGood People Author:Philip Zimbardo
“We can assume that most people, most of the time, are moral creatures. But imagine that this morality is like a gearshift that at times gets pushed into neutral. When that happens, morality is disengaged. If the car happens to be on an incline, car and driver move precipitously downhill. It is then the nature of the circumstances that determines outcomes, not the driver's skills or intentions.” PeopleIfsHappensMovingMoralImagineCarCircumstancesMoralitySkillsCreaturesAssumingIntentionDetermineOutcomesDriversImagine ThatIncline 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
“... 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
“I'm saying to be a hero it means you step accross the line and are willing to make a sacrifice, so heroes always are making a sacrifice. Heroes always take a risk. Heroes always deviant. Heroes always doing something that most people don't and we want to change - I want to democratise heroism to say any of us can be a hero.” PeopleWantMeanLinesStepsRiskSacrificeWillingHeroHeroismDeviants 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
“Heroes are Ordinary People whose social action is Extra-Ordinary/ who ACT when others are passive, who give up EGO-centrism for SOCIO-centrism.” PeopleGivingActionSocialSocietyHeroEgoGiving UpOrdinaryExtraordinaryActiveExtrasPassiveOrdinary PeopleEgocentricSocial ActionService And Sacrifice Author:Philip Zimbardo
