Philip Zimbardo The Ted Talk Analysis

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The TED talk by Philip Zimbardo was very thought provoking. He was a witness of the Abu Ghraib jail prisoner harassments during the Iraq war. He shared graphic images of what occurred in those torture chambers and it really made me doubt humanity and it’s morality. He believes the military police were put in a position by the interrogators to perform evil acts against the prisoners as an intimidation tactic. He also conducted the Stanford prison experiment where he sort of mirrored the events that took place at Abu Ghraib jail. He asked for volunteers and made sure they were mentally fit. He made half of them the officers and half the prisoners. The prisoners were humiliated and abused, he actually had to end the experiment early because several of the volunteers had mental breakdowns. Phillip made a point during the speech that the system creates a situation …show more content…

I think that reigns true. Everyone thinks evil thoughts, but with no situational pressures and all the personal responsibility, we refrain from them. But, with the lack of ownership for these actions and someone directing us, anyone could act in this way if they were weak minded enough to follow it. The strong minded, independent individuals who do not follow authority when it is negatively impacting someone else are standing up for what’s right even if they stand by themselves. Just like the whistleblower of the Abu Ghraib jail events, he was ostracized and had to go into hiding. Everyone else was following the evil in their heart and he wasn’t going to sit by and let these torturous acts continue. It is all personal choice, it is up to us which half of our heart we choose to act upon. Yes, there may be strong influences, but that does not mean we can do whatever our evil half says or what the leader says and not feel personally accountable for the negative

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