HOW CAN PEOPLE DO EVIL THINGS?
Following World War II (that’s World War Volume 2 for us literary types) there was intense scientific investigation into how “normal” people could do evil things, the very concept being anathema. Now, I’m talking “scientific” here, which means “repeatable under similar circumstances.” To my mind, there were two studies, both considered unethical by current standards.
The first was the Milgram [Obedience, sometimes called “Shock”] Experiment by Harvard social psychologist Dr. Stanley Milgram in 1961. According to Wikipedia, the experiment “measured the willingness of study participants…from a diverse range of occupations with varying levels of education, to obey an authority figure who instructed them to perform acts conflicting with their personal conscience. Participants were led to believe that they were assisting an unrelated experiment, in which they had to administer electric shocks to a ‘learner.’ These fake electric shocks gradually increased to levels that would have been fatal had they been real…In a later variation of the experiment, the confederate would eventually plead for mercy and yell that he had a heart condition.”
Again, according to Wikipedia, Milgram summarized his results as follows: “The extreme willingness of adults to go to almost any lengths on the command of an authority constitutes the chief finding of the study…Ordinary people, simply doing their jobs, and without any particular hostility on their part, can become agents in a terrible destructive process. Moreover, even when the destructive effects of their work become patently clear, and they are asked to carry out actions incompatible with fundamental standards of morality, relatively few people have the resources needed to resist authority.”
So, people can and will do reprehensible evil upon command of an authority figure, especially when they feel they are “part of” something larger from which the authority figure emanates.
The second was the Stanford Prison Experiment by Stanford psychologist Dr. Philip Zimbardo in 1971. Building on Milgram’s Experiment, Zimbardo, in his own words according to Wikipedia, “…had been conducting research for some years on deindividuation, vandalism and dehumanization that illustrated the ease with which ordinary people could be led to engage in anti-social acts by putting them in situations where they felt anonymous, or they could perceive of others in ways that made them less than human, as enemies or objects…” Again, according to Wikipedia, “[“normal” student] volunteers were assigned to be either ‘guards’ or ‘prisoners’ by the flip of a coin, in a mock prison…Early reports on experimental results claimed that students quickly embraced their assigned roles, with some guards enforcing authoritarian measures and ultimately subjecting some prisoners to psychological torture, while many prisoners passively accepted psychological abuse and, by the officers’ request, actively harassed other prisoners who tried to stop it.”
Yet again, according to Wikipedia, “Christina Maslach, a graduate student in psychology objected to the conditions [of the study]…Zimbardo noted that, of more than 50 people who had observed the experiment, Maslach was the only one who questioned its morality. After only six days of a planned two weeks’ duration, the experiment was discontinued.” There have been many summary interpretations of this impossible to replicate experiment base on ethical grounds, but my impression is that it demonstrates how “normal” people, when asked to participate in a situation in which there is a perceived power imbalance among participants, will assume authoritative or subordinate roles.
Combining historical information from the 1900’s to present with the summary interpretations of the above social psychological experiments, I came up with a vision of NewAmerica and NewTerra after the TOTAL MELTDOWN (Borgo/Wildside 2009), portray in my newly released future relationship novel, THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) and am discussing with noted thriller writer A. G. Hayes to include as a backdrop to the sequel to his socio-political thriller, 68 VIA CONDOTTI: ETERNITY LTD (Savant 2019) tentatively entitled 68 VIA CONDOTTI: VATICAN INC currently in writing.
If you’ve ever wondered why there is “evil” in the world, read my newest novel, THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020).
Get it in print or eBook format from Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/dp/0999693859
From the publisher with free shipping within the USA at 10% off using “ONLINE” discount code at checkout at https://savant-bookstore-honolulu.squ...
From Barnes and Noble at https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/1137...
From the Book Depository worldwide at https://www.bookdepository.com/The-Ed...
The first was the Milgram [Obedience, sometimes called “Shock”] Experiment by Harvard social psychologist Dr. Stanley Milgram in 1961. According to Wikipedia, the experiment “measured the willingness of study participants…from a diverse range of occupations with varying levels of education, to obey an authority figure who instructed them to perform acts conflicting with their personal conscience. Participants were led to believe that they were assisting an unrelated experiment, in which they had to administer electric shocks to a ‘learner.’ These fake electric shocks gradually increased to levels that would have been fatal had they been real…In a later variation of the experiment, the confederate would eventually plead for mercy and yell that he had a heart condition.”
Again, according to Wikipedia, Milgram summarized his results as follows: “The extreme willingness of adults to go to almost any lengths on the command of an authority constitutes the chief finding of the study…Ordinary people, simply doing their jobs, and without any particular hostility on their part, can become agents in a terrible destructive process. Moreover, even when the destructive effects of their work become patently clear, and they are asked to carry out actions incompatible with fundamental standards of morality, relatively few people have the resources needed to resist authority.”
So, people can and will do reprehensible evil upon command of an authority figure, especially when they feel they are “part of” something larger from which the authority figure emanates.
The second was the Stanford Prison Experiment by Stanford psychologist Dr. Philip Zimbardo in 1971. Building on Milgram’s Experiment, Zimbardo, in his own words according to Wikipedia, “…had been conducting research for some years on deindividuation, vandalism and dehumanization that illustrated the ease with which ordinary people could be led to engage in anti-social acts by putting them in situations where they felt anonymous, or they could perceive of others in ways that made them less than human, as enemies or objects…” Again, according to Wikipedia, “[“normal” student] volunteers were assigned to be either ‘guards’ or ‘prisoners’ by the flip of a coin, in a mock prison…Early reports on experimental results claimed that students quickly embraced their assigned roles, with some guards enforcing authoritarian measures and ultimately subjecting some prisoners to psychological torture, while many prisoners passively accepted psychological abuse and, by the officers’ request, actively harassed other prisoners who tried to stop it.”
Yet again, according to Wikipedia, “Christina Maslach, a graduate student in psychology objected to the conditions [of the study]…Zimbardo noted that, of more than 50 people who had observed the experiment, Maslach was the only one who questioned its morality. After only six days of a planned two weeks’ duration, the experiment was discontinued.” There have been many summary interpretations of this impossible to replicate experiment base on ethical grounds, but my impression is that it demonstrates how “normal” people, when asked to participate in a situation in which there is a perceived power imbalance among participants, will assume authoritative or subordinate roles.
Combining historical information from the 1900’s to present with the summary interpretations of the above social psychological experiments, I came up with a vision of NewAmerica and NewTerra after the TOTAL MELTDOWN (Borgo/Wildside 2009), portray in my newly released future relationship novel, THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) and am discussing with noted thriller writer A. G. Hayes to include as a backdrop to the sequel to his socio-political thriller, 68 VIA CONDOTTI: ETERNITY LTD (Savant 2019) tentatively entitled 68 VIA CONDOTTI: VATICAN INC currently in writing.
If you’ve ever wondered why there is “evil” in the world, read my newest novel, THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020).
Get it in print or eBook format from Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/dp/0999693859
From the publisher with free shipping within the USA at 10% off using “ONLINE” discount code at checkout at https://savant-bookstore-honolulu.squ...
From Barnes and Noble at https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/1137...
From the Book Depository worldwide at https://www.bookdepository.com/The-Ed...
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