Once while listening to the Oprah Winfrey show, I heard the phrase: “When you know better, you do better.” A closely related tell is: “People are basically good.” In our postmodern era, statements like these are assumed to be self-evident. The elites go further. To encourage others to “do better,” they confidently layout essential positions that one must accept to be considered virtuous and good. Those who disagree, even slightly, are deplorably ignorant. They are to be mocked, ridiculed, and shunned. Eventually, they will learn, repent, and then embrace the forward march of history.
I suppose this is normal to some degree. Each generation strives for solutions to the unique issues before them. Unfortunately, in so doing, it is easy to forget the lessons from the past. Rapid advances in technology accentuates this tendency. It is impossible to absorb the mountains of information that are available. So, most of us know a tiny bit about a lot of diverse topics as we float along within the prisons of our mobile devices. As a result, major cultural shifts that previously took hundreds of years happen quickly, sometimes even within a decade. I’m finding it hard to keep up. What will be the long-term consequences? I guess we don’t know. Time will tell.
My parents experienced the evils of two world wars, the Great Depression, and communism. Yet, even though there are still living survivors of these things, few are aware of the scope. Consider the following table:
Deaths By
Numbers Communist Regimes
94 million Fascist Regimes
28 million Murders
58 million Genocide
30 million World War 1
15-22 million World War 1I
50-56 million Famine
101 million (majority in communist areas) American Great Depression
7 million (from starvation)
Each of the above totals were human caused. Well, even if not caused, it is safe to say that they could have been avoided. But let’s put these numbers in perspective. The Covid-19 virus which recently shut down economies throughout the world has to this point, caused less than a half-million deaths.
So, with all this in mind, let’s ask. Is humanity basically good? Let’s explore this question further.
In 1971, the Stanford Prison Experiment took place. Professor Phillip Zimbardo signed up a group of college students as volunteers for the 15 day study. They were filtered so that their personality traits were representative of the general population. You might say, they were average. The purpose of the study was to determine how a normal distribution of subjects would react when put into a hostile simulated prison environment. Students were randomly selected, twelve to be guards, another twelve as prisoners.
Saturday, August 14th was an eventful day. The actual police arrived at the homes of the those who were to be prisoners. They were frisked, handcuffed, and brought to a real police station for processing. Maranda rights were read, and fingerprints taken. Then they were transported blindfolded to an imitation prison in the basement of one of Stanford’s buildings. The plan was to make this as real as possible.
Meanwhile, the student guards were briefed. Dr. Zimbardo who was to participate in the role of prison warden presented the rules. No physical violence was to be used. He emphasized however that the goal of the study was to make this be as real an experience as possible. The participants were given the impression that the purpose was to study prisoner reactions, not their behavior.
In their capacity, the guards were assigned uniforms and dark, silver-colored glasses. Prisoners were stripped, de-loused, fastened with ankle restraints, and put into embarrassing hospital gowns with no underwear. Each were assigned prison numbers; these would be their identity during the experiment. Everything was ready to begin.
The first day was largely uneventful. Zimbardo commented: “Perhaps nothing will happen. This might be a very boring two weeks.” But, as he hoped, activities quickly escalated on subsequent days. Prisoners began to rebel causing the guards to angrily respond. One guard, given the nickname “John Wayne” took his role seriously. Prisoners were abused in many ways. I’ll not go into details on this.
After a few days, one prisoner had to be released due to extreme mental distress. A reserve student on standby replaced him. When encountering the chaotic situation, this student decided to resist and go on a hunger strike. Three more days passed. Other prisoners begin suffering mental distress.
Finally, Christina Maslach, an associate professor and Zimbardo’s fiancée came by. When she witnessed what was happening, she was horrified. It was apparent that Zimbardo lost all perspective. He was no longer a scientist. He was now a prison warden. With their relationship in jeopardy, he relented and agreed to cancel the experiment.
This study was the subject of much post-analysis. Opinions differ on its implications. My takeaways follow.
None of the other guards took any action to stop or restrain “John Wayne.” Some actively went along. This tells me that evil will win when there is no one to object. In this case, it only took one “John Wayne” to turn the entire situation.
“John Wayne” followed Zimbardo’s instructions believing that the experiment had a good purpose. As a result, he efficiently carried out his role, even when some of his actions were evil. It demonstrates a person’s willingness to overlook bad behavior for a presumed good.
Zimbardo, acting as the authority figure always supported the guards, no matter what they did. Neither he nor the guards under his direction had any fear of accountability.
After a few days, many of the prisoners began to suffer a loss of identity. They were no longer persons, but numbers. The guards effectively got them to turn on each other. As victims, they lost the ability to resist. We see this borne out in situations relating to domestic and institutional abuse
The dark silver glasses and uniforms gave the guards a sense of anonymity making it easier to exploit the power imbalance. People are more prone to evil when their identity is hidden.
This study clearly relates to the point of this article. Are people basically good? Consider the following quote by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn from the “The Gulag Archipelago.” This was written after he spent the better part of a decade as a prisoner in a Soviet gulag.
If only it were all so simple! If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?
This study demonstrates the ease in which evil can arise from a typical group of college students. This is especially true when you add an ideology to the equation. “John Wayne” did what he did largely because he believed the study served a good purpose. Consider this second quote by Solzhenitsyn:
The imagination and the spiritual strength of Shakespeare’s evildoers stopped short at a dozen corpses. Because they had no ideology. The main problem isn’t evil people; it’s people who are so convinced of the righteousness of their own cause, that they are willing to use any means necessary to advance it.
Those that do evil don’t see themselves in that light. During the Holocaust, Chancellor Joseph Goebbels wrote: “Judgment is being visited upon the Jews that, while barbaric, is fully deserved by them; one must not be sentimental in these matters.” It would be well to consider this when we experience the media and political leaders downplaying the violence that we witness occurring in our country. It is quite easy to be manipulated into a perceived good cause which leaders use for an altogether different hidden agenda.
So, back to the question. Is humanity basically good? Consider the insight of Carl Jung, a preeminent 20th century psychiatrist. He proposed that we each have a shadow, which embodies our dark side. To be fully human, we must acknowledge that it is there. Unfortunately, most of us don’t see it. Perhaps that is because it extends back, and we are looking forward. Others looking in the same direction as us (in our social silos) don’t see it either. Yet, those facing other directions see it loud and clear. We need each other, especially those with different points of view.
Given the existence of the shadow, what do we do? We can never eliminate it. That would be an unachievable goal. A better purpose is to master it and turn it to good. Perhaps this is a useful interpretation of a New Testament quotation.
For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it (Matt 16:25, Mk 8:35, Lk 9:34).
In other words, overcome the shadow and find true life in the teachings of Jesus.
Hopefully, I’ve shown that humanity indeed has deep flaws. In Christian terminology, we miss the mark (which is a better translation using the word sin). We can’t fully control that shadow on our own. The Good News is that we can turn to the Holy Spirit for help. We have hope. The Kingdom of God is at hand, which was initiated when Jesus willingly entered into the global shadow to suffer the indignity of crucifixion. He did this to conquer death and redeem all of Creation. I take comfort in John 1:29
Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
Thanks for listening,secondlooknow.com
WOW, Dan…
Jung is an amazing individual who has strong insights; so does Aleksandr I Solzhenhitsyn.. and Goebbel has some awful insights of how people should think…! I sometimes wonder how can GOD be SO Loving and kind and everlastingly patient with humankind…..but thanks for composing this article!
You give us a lot to ponder, Dan.
I’ll choose the Goebbels quote because it’s a good example of making “other” out of fellow humans as we cut off trade with them or lock them in cages on our border or gas and shoot them with rubber bullets.
Spot on Dan. I remember the main antagonist in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, or better yet, in Coppola’s adaptation for Apocalypse Now. Kurtz was the model soldier, the hero become Villian. The truth is the hero and Villian live within us all. To as, as to Cain, God reminds us of the beast crouching at our door and waiting to devour us. We must Master it.
“Murderers are not monsters. They’re men, and that’s the most frightening thing about them.” – Alice Sebold
Indeed.
Thank you.
Wow!
I remember a talk I had with Aunt Ruth years ago about sin. She too longed for heaven where there is no sin.
It is so easy to get tangled up in it and we need to remember the wages of it is death. For Christians we at least have grace to live forever with Christ in heaven but life on earth sure can be like death.
So a great reminder to cling to Jesus who really does take away all of our sin.
Thanks Dan