Morality is a necessary character in interactions or organizations. Generally, the words “right” and “wrong” are antonym and the meanings are used to define the positive and negative even though we are taught not to judge what other people do. However, the ideas of black and white or right and wrong in morality are difficult to determine because we usually use our own measurement to judge others based on our beliefs, experiences and knowledge. In reality, there are not only black and white but the grey area also is existed where good people can do bad things and where bad people can do good things. According to Philip Zimbardo, psychologist and a professor at Stanford University, the line between bad and good isn’t fixed but it is movable and…
Since the creation of the world, humans have been falling into darkness and evil, as displayed in stories like Adam and Eve. All humans-beings have the potential to become evil, which usually comes from self-centered wants. When people go down the path of doing whatever it takes to get what they want, they end up hurting others along the way. Evil tempts everyone on a daily basis, but it is the choice whether to reject temptation or give in that exemplifies who someone is. When humans repel evil, the good shows through and their actions have a positive impact. Surrendering to evil is the easy way out, but will lead to darkness and destruction, and make it almost impossible to find a way back to the light.…
Conformity has always been a problem in American society. There have always been people who believe they are better than others and this still holds today. This type of thinking has been detrimental to our society, but there is improvement as the years go by. We continue to grow as a species and we will find peace and acceptance someday. It has been a long road to get here and it has not stopped…
Evil people do evil things: that statement seems simple enough. However, the motives behind evil acts tend to be more complex than that simplistic thought. Although some may believe that any dishonesty is evil, people are not inherently evil, and acts that may be considered evil are not deliberate. More likely, they occur because of the denial of private responsibility through the pursuit of self-gain.…
So many people take social conformity for granted that not many bother to find out why it is such a powerful phenomenon and why so many people submit to this force without any resistance.…
In fact, it is of the utmost importance not to conform. Today, the United States is a place in which different ideas are not accepted. In January 2017, conservative students at West Virginia University were attacked for having different beliefs than their peers (“Video”). Currently, the United States has a political landscape that encourages conformity over individuality. Instead of accepting that there are different viewpoints, many Americans attack what they do not understand.…
Throughout human history, people have shown through many ways that they possess the ability to exude pure evil (or some form of it). There are a few exceptions to this vile display, however it is nearly impossible to deny that everyone possesses it. I believe that humans are bad because they attempt/commit acts of murder and violence (and in some severe cases genocide) and are obsessed with power and self-improvement.…
Peter Ustinov once said, “In America, through pressure of conformity, there is freedom of choice, but nothing to choose from.” This is unbelievably true as much as we try not to admit it. Society has made it where we really don’t have a choice when it comes to certain things if we want to be “normal” and liked. Although we might say we would act differently than everyone else in a hypothetical situation, when it comes down to it, we would more than likely just follow along with the behavior of everyone else. This is just whom we are as individuals- how we are wired. We don’t want to risk standing out and being ridiculed or singled out. Sure, we want to be unique and remembered,…
Throughout American history, conformity has been used as a tool of deception to rob Americans of their individuality and freedom. From as early as European colonization in America to now, people have been forced to conform to the beliefs of mainstream society. It started with the Native Americans conforming to European culture, Puritans developing religion based societies, and the formation of antebellum America. Americans, now having complete freedom to do as we wish, are still pressured to pursue the American Dream, causing the American people to conform.…
What makes people go wrong? Am I capable of evil myself? These are some questions that we all might have asked to our selves at one point in life. The Lucifer Effect intends to make the audience, anyone that might be interested, understand how good people turn evil. The articles purpose is to give us, the audience, the psychological explanation of why people go wrong. I read myself The Lucifer Effect and what I understood is that evil is the exercise of power. What I mean by this is that people with power usually go badly, they never get in trouble or don’t have that much trouble to get to do what they want, the more power they have the worst they can be. “It is when power is wedded to chronic fear that it becomes formidable”, are Eric Hoffer’s words and I have certainly agreed with him. When we are scared of…
When people are given absolute freedom they feel the need to create rules and structure. This has been shown time and time again, and without rules and structure we, as a human race, might cease to exist because there would be no teamwork or leadership. Within those confines and rules each given community creates an unspoken set of social norms, which are expectations and regulations about how people should act and present themselves. All across our planet we see a wide array of social norms from who should shake hands first, or if you should shake hands at all. In America, especially, we have very distinct, yet unspoken, social norms. When broken, people get angry, annoyed, or uncomfortable. However, we as a human race have proved to be very selfish, and unless we are directly being wronged or inconvenienced, most people will ignore the wrong doing, try every way possible not to get involved, and avoid the same thing happening to them. Also, people are more likely to find something, like breaking social norms, amusing than annoying if it is not directed towards them.…
Some people believe that evil comes in because it is either because of Satan, free will, or to test us. An…
Being evil doesn’t always mean doing awful things. Being evil can mean saying bad or mean things or even thinking those things. Innate human evil is evil that is natural and born into the human body and mind. Sometimes, people can’t help evil things that they think, but can help what they say and do. In Julius Caesar, by William Shakespeare, he uses Cassius’ and Antony’s actions and thoughts to show its easy for people to let evil get the better of them.…
The system, according to Dr, Z, makes people yearn for more power which in turn makes them transition from good to evil. He asserts, “his version of the “Lucifer Effect” is a celebration of the mind’s infinite capacity to make us behave kind or cruel, caring or indifferent, creative or destructive, and make us villains; or heroes. Zimbardo starts by showing a series of gruesome pictures that were taking in the Abu Gharib Prison on the night shift in Tier 1A. There was a study that Stanley Milgram did with a shock box; he tested 1,000 non-college males between the ages of 20 and 50 (500 from New Haven and 500 from Bridgeport). A wrong answer meant that the learner received a shock and a correct answer meant that the learner received a reward. The learner could be the middle-aged person or as young as 20. The shock box starts at 15 volts and works its way up to 450 volts in increments of 15. When it gets to 375, it says danger, severe shock. When the learner starts to scream in reaction to the volts, the teacher starts to get worried.…
I believe that in all men's lives at certain periods, and in many men's lives at all periods between infancy and extreme old age, one of the most dominant elements is the desire to be inside the local Ring and the terror of being left outside.... Of all the passions the passion for the Inner Ring is most skilful in making a man who is not yet a very bad man do very bad things. —C. S. Lewis, "The Inner Ring" ( 1 9 4 4 )…