Journey From the Psychology of Evil to the Psychology of Heroism

WARNING: CONTAINS EXPLICIT CONTENT

October 9, 2008 lecture by Philip Zimbardo during the 2008 Reunion Homecoming Classes Without Quizzes program. Why do good people turn evil? In what sense are evil and heroism comparable? How could the little old Stanford prison experiment reveal parallels and insights about the abuses by military guards at Abu Ghraib?

Philip Zimbardo, professor of psychology, emeritus, is internationally recognized as a leading "voice and face of contemporary psychology" through his widely seen PBS-TV series, Discovering Psychology, his media appearances, best-selling trade books on shyness, and his classic research, The Stanford Prison Experiment.

Stanford University Alumni Association:
http://www.stanfordalumni.org/

Stanford University:
http://www.stanford.edu/

Stanford University Channel on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/stanford/

Category:

Education

Tags:

• psychology
• psychiatry
• evil
• heroism
• angel
• lucifer
• effect
• research
• people
• human
• behavior
• Abu
• Ghraib
• prisoner
• soldier
• scandal
• context
• military
• intelligence
• interrogation
• Donald
• Rumsfeld
• dispositional
• situational
• systemic
• Milgram
• account

[mjag1988]

Amazing lecture.

I really want to thanks the Stanford University for all their videos. I'm from Colombia and I have the possibility to see a psychology lecture from Professor Zimbardo in my computer miles away. Just amazing!

[heartmycrackberry]

God bless youtube's new edu page!

[0thepyat0]

Harm's justification, evil sees no ugliness. Evil-doers are, in their own and others' eyes, heroes. If you tell those indoctrinated into a good/bad guy framework to act heroically, you incite harm that has turned invisible because the victim is "bad." Owning that heroic actions in one sense are great harm in another requires a journey through cognitive dissonance that can easily undo a human being. People may never come out the other side of that. Yet no other journey on earth is more important.

[kevinyulas]

that was awesome! i can replace watching tv shows for such educative programming that add matter to life. thanks

[thegreeensky]

great lecture.. well done!

[adelle0001]

nice one! very informative

[agapitoflores001]

It is nice to hear words from professional Psychologists.. Very interesting..

[somethingfox]

This is a wonderful lecture i understood it perfectly

[Lolznator]

@TomFynn =| I don't think you quite got the point.