In 1971, an experiment took place in Stanford, California. It was named the Stanford Prison Experiment, lasting what was meant to be two weeks, but due to the brutality of the trial, lasted a mere 6 days. Its purpose was to conduct a study on humanity and show just how evil a human can get when given a position of power. To summarize the experiment, a random 18 men were chosen, all innocent, good people who’d never committed a crime. They were divided into two groups erratically: 9 being “prisoners” and 9 being “guards.” Neither were taught how to play their role and were told to play the part however they thought best. Shortly into the study, guards abused their power, giving excessive punishments, getting easily angered, and completely dominating
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Our whole world runs on them. We work for money. We work for recognition. We enslave ourselves all for something our selfish hearts desire. Which leaves me to wonder, is there anything man is incapable of, if given the right incentive? For a woman in Lawrenceville, Georgia, the ideal incentive for her was a simple insurance policy. 42-year old Tia Trollyne Young murdered her own spouse all for the payout of her husband’s life insurance policy. Could you ever imagine killing someone you loved all for money? What if I told you that it would pay a little over a million dollars? Though, no amount of money should influence your morals on murder, it’s an evil world we live in with people who are just as evil, if not worse. Some would even say that we live in a “survival of the fittest” world. We’re all programmed to do what we have to just to live. If someone broke into your home, would you be willing to kill this person to ensure your life stays safe? Murder is still wrong, but now has a new perspective. It’s now either you or the person who’s broken into your house. Naturally, you choose your life over theirs and feel that your reason for murder is perfectly justified. Is it though? The answer: no. It’s still murder, and it’s still incredibly wrong whether it was a life or death situation or not. We would choose our own safety over doing what is technically right. Therefore, can man be 100% good if we feel that we can justify our wrong doings when they’re as drastic as taking someone else’s
Our whole world runs on them. We work for money. We work for recognition. We enslave ourselves all for something our selfish hearts desire. Which leaves me to wonder, is there anything man is incapable of, if given the right incentive? For a woman in Lawrenceville, Georgia, the ideal incentive for her was a simple insurance policy. 42-year old Tia Trollyne Young murdered her own spouse all for the payout of her husband’s life insurance policy. Could you ever imagine killing someone you loved all for money? What if I told you that it would pay a little over a million dollars? Though, no amount of money should influence your morals on murder, it’s an evil world we live in with people who are just as evil, if not worse. Some would even say that we live in a “survival of the fittest” world. We’re all programmed to do what we have to just to live. If someone broke into your home, would you be willing to kill this person to ensure your life stays safe? Murder is still wrong, but now has a new perspective. It’s now either you or the person who’s broken into your house. Naturally, you choose your life over theirs and feel that your reason for murder is perfectly justified. Is it though? The answer: no. It’s still murder, and it’s still incredibly wrong whether it was a life or death situation or not. We would choose our own safety over doing what is technically right. Therefore, can man be 100% good if we feel that we can justify our wrong doings when they’re as drastic as taking someone else’s