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RE: Exploring the Dark Side of Humanity: the Stanford Prison Experiment
Hello my dearest @churchboy :)
What an incredibly well-written and interesting post you have gifted us with today!
In many ways, I believe Zimbardo followed Milgram's footsteps. I think that when he set out to conduct this experiment he almost replicated The obedience to authority study. I also think that what this research unveiled about human nature - as well as confirming Milgram's findings - exposed even further how much of a role the context people find themselves in play in their decision making. Sometimes even causing them to leave their morals and personal beliefs aside.
All the best & much love to you my dear :*
Thank you so much my dear @abigail-dantes.
Yes, I noticed that this experiment was meant to add to the knowledge gained from Milgram's research. I think that underlying what was observed in the experiment was not only the conditions put in place at the prison but also the separation of the participants into groups. Group identity is a powerful thing. Most conflicts around the world can be traced to the idea that one group of people is different from another group. But there is no real difference in the guards and the inmates. They post spent times in the prison! And as Asa put it:
Because we often identify with our own group and ascribe certain qualities to other groups, whether true or false, we feel justified to judge them by those qualities and to punish them for their shortcomings and it matters not that we may be wrong. I think this is true for both the side that has authority and the side that is being subdued. The only thing that can solve this problem is an environment that promotes a shared value, like steemit, for instance. There are minnows and there are whales and dolphins. Our shared value is STEEM. It is in the best interest of all for the currency to appreciate in value and one way to achieve that is if more and more people use it. For that reason, it is in the interest of the whale to encourage minnows, curation benefits aside. So we are all in this together no matter how different we are.
However, a system that encourages people to dwell on their differences rather than what binds them together would result in the kind of situation Zimbardo created.
I appreciate you insights into this field of yours. All my love to you. Thank you.