Interview with psychologist Philip Zimbardo (Eugene Paashuis, VPRO Backlight 2011)

Psychologist Zimbardo conducted the famous Stanford Prison Experiment in the seventies. The goal was to research the influence of circumstances on the behaviour of people. Zimbardo was also called as a specialist witness for the security guards of the Abu Graib prison in Iraq. In this interview he talks about all these subjects.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• zimbardo
• stanford
• prison
• experiment
• abu
• graib
• tegenlicht
• backlight

[HolyFictionOrg]

we're apes, the desire to punish others is what created god, it's deeply rooted in biology but it only "blossoms" fully when the cultural values accentuate these emotional triggers. Our system of property results in everyone accepting harm done to other individuals because we all know how hard we've had to work to acquire something that was stolen. human apes have poor ethical cognitive algorithms, but we have developed cultural extensions to assess these situations better then our CNS networks

[bassammaelborno]

An understanding of this, is really quite simple.

The "Superego" (our acquired sense of right and wrong) becomes suspended, allowing for the "Id" (our primitive impulses whether good or bad) to prevail.

The suspension of each individual's Superego within a group, is easily done, as it is tacitly condoned by observing it occuring in others. This may be further facilitated, if there happens to be a particular emotional component (love, hate, etc.), as this helps to overide cognition.

[JanRichardus]

It's Group Think brother, "our group vs them" bullshit.

[grasshopper97]

@Nadienne1 Sorry to create any confusion, but my question was pertaining to the idea of remorse within society. The society of Nazi Germany turned Jews into scapegoats, making it permissible to harm them without impunity. If they won, such behavior would still be in place. From the viewpoint of an individual raised in that society, do you think that remorse would exist for such actions? Or would life go on?

[Nadienne1]

@grasshopper97 I tend to agree with you about good in humans compared to good in society. But are you commenting on a peron's remorse (or shame, which is slightly different), or on society's apparent need to punish a person regardless of whether or not that person feels remorse?

[grasshopper97]

@Nadienne1 That's why I asked the question. I've since read The Lucifer Effect, and while more enlightened on the subject, my curiosity is still piqued in regards to my question. An essay by Jennifer Jacquet in the book Future Science, titled "Is Shame Necessary?", supports my reasoning for the question. While I believe that there is indeed good in human beings, I come to question that good in regard to our particular society, as behaviors in the Stanford occur within it, albeit more subtly.

[Nadienne1]

@grasshopper97 When does he talk about remorse? When he talks about the system twisting people, he means that guards get twisted into brutalizers, and prisoners--even good people--have mental breakdowns, make irrational decisions, etc.

[sullenboy1o3o]

The elephant in the room...

the guy looks like satan.

[JazSoon2bPharmD]

extremly informative!



[Renegen1]

@bigoledicksdotcom May you explain why, beyond just insulting him because you don't agree with him?