As shown in the 1994 documentary, Freedom on My Mind, the story of Freedom Summer resonates today in many ways, but especially in its horrifying portrayal of evil. Many people would like to think that evil is separate from themselves, that it is inconceivable that they could take part in the atrocities of the past. However, the events of that summer in 1964 display the insidious nature of evil and how it can creep into even the most level-headed of humans’ mentality. Mercifully, the story of this summer doesn’t only depict evil, it depicts good as well. It depicts what humanity needs to avoid and to constantly be striving for.
When studying the outrages that white people committed against black people during that summer, it is as easy to dehumanize the ones who took part in it as it was for them to
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dehumanize the ones that they were harming.
Simply, it is easy to forget that most of the people who enforced oppression in the most degrading of ways were just the same as everyone else. The nature of evil does not work in such a simple, black-and-white way as society believes. To prove this psychologists have done social experiments to determine the ability of every human to perform evil acts. For example, Philip Zimbardo, in his TED Talks presentation, The Psychology of Evil, speaks of an experiment, done by Stanley Milgram, which sought to answer the query of whether another event like the Holocaust could happen in today’s society. As Zimbardo explains, “what he did was he tested 1,000 ordinary people,” and gave them the role of a teacher in what they believed to be a memory research experiment (Zimbardo). As the teacher, they would be led by an authority
figure to teach an actor, “tied up to the shock apparatus in another room” (Zimbardo). They were told that if the actor answered the question wrong that they had to shock him, and the level of volts went up with each incorrect answer, with the largest shock being 450 volts. The results were that, “two-thirds [went] all the way to 450 volts” (Zimbardo). This is certainly more than the one percent that was anticipated as the outcome. This experiment shows Milgram, “quantifying evil as the willingness of people to blindly obey authority,” and how that willingness is more rampant in the human psyche than previously thought (Zimbardo). Admittedly, Milgram’s experiment is too simple to be the same situation as the one dealt with during Freedom Summer – yet the implication of adding this gained knowledge about human nature to the other foundations of evil in that time is very important. There were more forces than authority that made people commit these injustices, for example, years of ignorance and racism, society’s expectations, and propaganda exacerbated this underlying ability of every human being to commit evil acts. Thankfully, this isn’t the only lesson to be learned about human nature from the events of that summer. The path of morality was much harder to traverse than the path of evil during that time, yet there were many students and other leaders who proved that through determination and dedication evil can be contended with. This summer holds so much meaning because of their courage in the face of innumerable adversities to combat injustice against a whole group of people based on the color of their skin. Zimbardo says in his presentation, “We want our kids to realize most heroes are everyday people, and the heroic act is unusual,” (Zimbardo). These students and leaders who went down to Mississippi, risked their lives and safety for people they didn’t know, are the true heroes of this period of American history. Their unusual, selfless acts were what brought attention to this era of inequality, and eventually led to the change society is still fighting for today.
It is only natural to dismiss the idea of our own personal flaws, for who with a healthy sense of self wanders in thoughts of their own insufficiency? The idea of hypocrisy is one that strikes a sensitive nerve to most, and being labeled a hypocrite is something we all strive to avoid. Philip Meyer takes this emotion to the extreme by examining a study done by a social psychologist, Stanley Milgram, involving the effects of discipline. In the essay, "If Hitler Asked You to Electrocute a Stranger, Would You? Probably", Meyer takes a look at Milgram's study that mimics the execution of the Jews (among others) during World War II by placing a series of subjects under similar conditions of stress, authority, and obedience. The main theme of this experiment is giving subjects the impression that they are shocking an individual for incorrectly answering a list of questions, but perhaps more interesting is the results that occur from both ends of the research. Meyer's skill in this essay is using both the logical appeal of facts and statistics as well as the pathetic appeal to emotion to get inside the reader's mind in order to inform and dissuade us about our own unscrupulous actions.
It is only human to be biased. However, the problem begins when we allow our bigotry to manifest into an obstacle that hinders us from genuinely getting to know people. Long time diversity advocate, Verna Myers, in her 2014 Ted Talk, “How to overcome our biases? Walk boldly toward them” discusses the implicit biases we may obtain when it comes to race, specifically black men and women. Myers purpose is quite like the cliché phrase “Face your fears.” Her goal is to impress upon us that we all have biases (conscious or unconscious). We just have to be aware of them and face them head on, so that problems such as racism, can be resolved. Throughout the Ted Talk, Verna Myers utilizes an admonishing yet entertaining tone in order to grasp our attention
Thinking about history and Genocides, we want to imagine the enemies as being somehow different from us. Take watching a film, for instance, you’re watching an action film with a villain or killer. We consider them to be different from us we are scared of them, we look at the differently than a “normal” human. We tend to think of the enemies in history to be the same as the villain or killer in a movie. We perceive this because we don’t want to assume that any normal human being is capable of committing a Genocide. As a society, we believe we are different from the chaos in the world. Christopher Browning’s book, Ordinary Men: Reserved Police Battalion 101 and the final solution in Poland, portrayed the story from the opposite viewpoint. Everyday
In the Ted Talk, “My stroke of insight”, the speaker Jill Bolte Taylor, a neuroanatomist had undergone a stroke affecting her left hemisphere. During this process she was able to experience her brain deteriorating slowly and she was able to study it. She explains how she wanted to become a brain researcher because of her brother’s brain condition, schizophrenia. During the TedTalk she also explained her whole experience, including what it felt like, her emotions, and the world around her while having a stroke as well as the difficulties that she had encountered. Jill explains this experience as a tremendous gift.
Lauren Zalaznick’s Ted Talk: The Conscience of Television is descriptive and explanatory as she incorporates the idea that televisions have a conscience. The speaker explains how television reflects the moral, political, social, and emotional need our nation. Zalaznick gets into the topic of evolution in order to show how human beings are separated from the animal kingdom simply because we love to be entertained.
“All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” This oft-repeated paraphrase of a less-palatable line of Edmund Burke’s has made its way into the modern public vernacular as a call to vigilance against the eternal creep of evil. Yet the question remained: “What is the nature of this evil?” and “What action do good men take in order to prevent it?” In her 1957 Magnum Opus, Atlas Shrugged, the American novelist Ayn Rand put forward the next step in that line of thinking; “The evil of the world is made possible by nothing but the sanction you give it.” (Rand 1066). Through Hank Rearden’s familial relationships, his struggles against the government, and John Galt’s final exposition of his philosophical discoveries, Rand explains the nature of good and evil; good can only lose if it presents itself to be negated, and evil can only triumph with good’s willing consent.
As a kid I always loved going to the movies and seeing Spiderman, Batman, or Superman kicking the bad guys’ butts’ on the big screen. It seems movies these days always have the same overarching theme though good vs. evil. Even those super girly princess movies have aspects of good and evil. Take The Little Mermaid, for example, there is the protagonist, Ariel, and the antagonist, Ursula, and just like in all of the other movies, the good guy always wins. Although, the theme of good vs. evil is not only found in movies; it can also be found in history, literature, and day-to-day lives. Though the battle between good and evil manifests itself in many types of literary work, good always triumphs evil.
Foner, Eric and John A. Garraty. "Freedom Rides." The Reader's Companion to American History. 1 Dec. 1991: n.p. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 19 May. 2014. .
America is one word that brings the hope of freedom to many people around the world. Since the United States’ humble beginnings freedom has remained at the core of its ideologies and philosophies. People of all races, nations, and tongues have found refuge in America. The National Anthem proclaims, “…land of the free, and home of the brave” (Key, 1814). But has America been consistently a land of the free? Unfortunately freedom has not always reigned. There is a constant struggle to overcome fear and prejudice in order to provide a true land of freedom. In times of heightened tension, the masses of common people seek to find a scapegoat. Often, this scapegoat is a minority with ties to current negative events. As fear uncontrollably grows, it can cause people to allow and commit unspeakable atrocities.
Behrens and Rosen asked, “What sort of people were responsible for the Holocaust, and for the long list of other atrocities that seem to blight the human record in every generation? Is it a lunatic fringe, a few sick but powerful people who are responsible for atrocities?” and the responded with “If so, then we decent folk needn’t ever look inside ourselves to understand evil since ever lurks out there.” Behrens and Rosen use this to construe that evil does not lurk only in lunatics but the ordinary person as well. Everyone is capable any act possible, the circumstances and the environment play an important role on what a person is capable of doing.
This is why we study the Holocaust. So we may make sure that evil may never triumph, by giving good men a chance to do something.
In 1963s, Stanley Milgram, a Yale professor, conducted an experiment that sparked intense controversy throughout the nation(Milgram 77). Milgram attempted to pinpoint evil in its rawest form: through ordinary people. This was achieved by placing an ordinary person, called the teacher, in a situation in which an instructor pressured the subject, called the teacher, to shock another person, called the learner(Milgram 78). Despite hearing the progressively agonizing screams of the learner, the teacher continued to comply with the directives given by the instructor, thereby selecting obedience over morality(Milgram 80). While this experiment was revered and praised by many scientists and psychologists,
Brian Little, an award-winning psychology professor explains the science behind personalities in his Ted talk, “ Brian Little: Who are you really? The puzzle of personality.” He is a professor at Cambridge University and his students often describe him as, “A cross between Robin Williams and Einstein.” Brian wrote the book Me, Myself, and Us: The Science of Personality and the Art of Well-Being. Brian uses his degree in psychology and the acronym OCEAN to explain the different characteristics of personalities in his TED talk, “Brian Little: Who are you really? The puzzle of personality.” In his Ted talk, Brian describes how the acronym OCEAN applies to the science of personality. He says, “ So “O” stands for “open to experience” versus those
MJ Bivin McKenzie/Burkhard 9 Honors English 04/08/2024 Perspective on Freedom Freedom has been displayed in literature for years. However, it’s almost always, at least a little bit different each time. Why is that so important? Well, people all have different ideas of freedom that are mostly supported by their past. Some individuals have been battling for their freedom for years, while others were granted freedom from the start.
...evil place on a good person. The result was that once a person has authority can make the most atrocities thing of the world without think of the consequences.Those three evidences show the reality about humans, not only adult people comprise in a malevolent situation, children are capable of became really dangerous. I wonder what would happen if the group of boy never get request? or what would happen if one of the students in the Milgram experiment died? And what if the Stanford prison experiment was not stopped? Some of the people simply born evil and others acquired evilness. Other people may think that all depends on the situation or depends on your morality.