Clare Hart
Mrs. Marrinan
Honors English II
December 11, 2016
“Evil is the Exercise of Power”
Research pushes the boundaries of human understanding; in extreme circumstances, human behavior can be unpredictable and may lead to unexpected consequences. If someone is placed in a situation and they are granted power over another, they may resort to making that person feel inferior. One may think that there is a line dividing good and evil behavior, and good people never cross that line. The reality is that when good people are placed in a given circumstance of authority, power will corrupt. In 1971 at Stanford University, Dr. Philip Zimbardo conducted a study where he recruited over a dozen male students at the university to experience the role …show more content…
Zimbardo went on to write a novel titled The Lucifer Effect, which talks about, “How good people can turn evil” (Hong). He mentions how good and normal people can have a change of character if given power. Goodness vs. Evil is considered to be the yin and yang of human behavior. One might ask if something as cruel as the Holocaust could ever repeat itself, and the initial answer would be no, but when looks to the circumstance of the system one 's views alter. Another study a decade prior to the Stanford experiment also studied how one may respond to authority. Stanley Milgram set up the experiment which was said to improve the scientific study of memory. There would be two volunteers per test of either a teacher and a learner, and only a screen would separate them. The teacher would ask the learner questions in a word game and would administer an electric shock when the answer was incorrect and to increase the voltage as the answers were answered wrongly. The teachers were unaware that the learner was really an actor, and when the learner began to make it sound as if he was undergoing pain, the teacher became worried of being responsible for hurting this volunteer. When the teachers would refuse to increase the voltage, the administrator told them that the teachers wouldn 't be responsible for the learners well-being, the administrators would. Without any questioning they were went to the highest range of voltage. Out of 1,000 people this …show more content…
When a human is given dominance over another, regardless of the position they occupy, the grasp for power will always be present. The Lucifer Effect is a terrifying reminder of how any one of us can fall prey to the impulses of a given circumstance; unless one realizes and understands what influences one’s own behavior, one may become even more vulnerable to the defeating purpose. One can appeal to the golden rule, that we must treat others as we would like to be treated. Knowing this, one must learn to rise above the negative environment, and reject the evil exercise of
Mrs. Marrinan
Honors English II
December 11, 2016
“Evil is the Exercise of Power”
Research pushes the boundaries of human understanding; in extreme circumstances, human behavior can be unpredictable and may lead to unexpected consequences. If someone is placed in a situation and they are granted power over another, they may resort to making that person feel inferior. One may think that there is a line dividing good and evil behavior, and good people never cross that line. The reality is that when good people are placed in a given circumstance of authority, power will corrupt. In 1971 at Stanford University, Dr. Philip Zimbardo conducted a study where he recruited over a dozen male students at the university to experience the role …show more content…
Zimbardo went on to write a novel titled The Lucifer Effect, which talks about, “How good people can turn evil” (Hong). He mentions how good and normal people can have a change of character if given power. Goodness vs. Evil is considered to be the yin and yang of human behavior. One might ask if something as cruel as the Holocaust could ever repeat itself, and the initial answer would be no, but when looks to the circumstance of the system one 's views alter. Another study a decade prior to the Stanford experiment also studied how one may respond to authority. Stanley Milgram set up the experiment which was said to improve the scientific study of memory. There would be two volunteers per test of either a teacher and a learner, and only a screen would separate them. The teacher would ask the learner questions in a word game and would administer an electric shock when the answer was incorrect and to increase the voltage as the answers were answered wrongly. The teachers were unaware that the learner was really an actor, and when the learner began to make it sound as if he was undergoing pain, the teacher became worried of being responsible for hurting this volunteer. When the teachers would refuse to increase the voltage, the administrator told them that the teachers wouldn 't be responsible for the learners well-being, the administrators would. Without any questioning they were went to the highest range of voltage. Out of 1,000 people this …show more content…
When a human is given dominance over another, regardless of the position they occupy, the grasp for power will always be present. The Lucifer Effect is a terrifying reminder of how any one of us can fall prey to the impulses of a given circumstance; unless one realizes and understands what influences one’s own behavior, one may become even more vulnerable to the defeating purpose. One can appeal to the golden rule, that we must treat others as we would like to be treated. Knowing this, one must learn to rise above the negative environment, and reject the evil exercise of