TED 2008: How Good People Turn Evil, From Stanford to Abu Ghraib ~ Philip Zimbardo

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This afternoon at TED2008, Phillip Zimbardo talked about about parallels between his infamous 1971 “prison experiment” at Stanford and prisoner abuses at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq more than 30 years later.There is a preview at WIRED, including Disturbing New Photos From Abu Ghraib.

These photos are EXTREMELY DISTURBING - they are disgusting, they can be seen as obscene and most definitely degrading.

Disturbing enough to turn away, to ignore them, to choose not to view them.

For me, I need to see them. I need to be reminded what good people are doing in my name, what patriotic folks are doing in the name of justice and freedom, what is being done to fellow creatures of the God I worship and follow. I need to be aware & awake to the things I am condoning and even supporting through my efforts as a citizen of the United States.

Zimbardo notes in the WIRED interview:

Situations can be sufficiently powerful to undercut empathy, altruism, morality and to get ordinary people, even good people, to be seduced into doing really bad things -- but only in that situation.

Ethan Zuckerman liveblogged the session here - highlights for me:

We tend to argue that evil is a personal characteristic. In Abu Ghraib, the Bush administration argued that the soldiers were good, but there were a few bad apples. Zimbrano’s hypothesis was that the apples were good and the barrel was bad. He’s got a unique perspective - he was an expert witness in support of Sgt. Chip Frederick, accused of abuse in Abu Ghraib.

Evil in systems comes from:
- mindlessly taking the first step
- dehumanizaiton of others
- anonymity
- diffusion of responsibility
- blind obedience

Understanding evil is not excusing it. We want to understand why people engage in evil so we can avoid designing systems that cause it. And we want to build models that make it easier where people can become heroes. Joe Darby, who exposed Abu Ghraib acted heroically. So did a woman who begged Zimbrano to stop the Stanford Prison study - he calls her his heroine, and he married her a year later. He asks us to inspire heroic imaginations, to help create heros-in-waiting, like Wesley Autrey, who saved a man he didn’t know from being hit by a subway train: “I did what anyone could do, and what everyone ought to do.”

As a person struggling to follow God in a Jesus way, I am called to stand with the people in the photo - and with the ordinary people, even good people, seduced into doing really bad things. They are creations of God and they are all my brothers and sisters.

For me, being awake to this is part of living in the Empire today is a central calling . This passage from Luke's Gospel helps me:

1-3By this time the crowd, unwieldy and stepping on each other's toes, numbered into the thousands. But Jesus' primary concern was his disciples. He said to them, "Watch yourselves carefully so you don't get contaminated with Pharisee yeast, Pharisee phoniness. You can't keep your true self hidden forever; before long you'll be exposed. You can't hide behind a religious mask forever; sooner or later the mask will slip and your true face will be known. You can't whisper one thing in private and preach the opposite in public; the day's coming when those whispers will be repeated all over town.

4-5"I'm speaking to you as dear friends. Don't be bluffed into silence or insincerity by the threats of religious bullies. True, they can kill you, but then what can they do? There's nothing they can do to your soul, your core being. Save your fear for God, who holds your entire life—body and soul—in his hands.

6-7"What's the price of two or three pet canaries? Some loose change, right? But God never overlooks a single one. And he pays even greater attention to you, down to the last detail—even numbering the hairs on your head! So don't be intimidated by all this bully talk. You're worth more than a million canaries.

8-9"Stand up for me among the people you meet and the Son of Man will stand up for you before all God's angels. But if you pretend you don't know me, do you think I'll defend you before God's angels?

10"If you bad-mouth the Son of Man out of misunderstanding or ignorance, that can be overlooked. But if you're knowingly attacking God himself, taking aim at the Holy Spirit, that won't be overlooked.

11-12"When they drag you into their meeting places, or into police courts and before judges, don't worry about defending yourselves—what you'll say or how you'll say it. The right words will be there. The Holy Spirit will give you the right words when the time comes."