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[Music]
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have you ever stopped to wonder how
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close you are to the edge of your own
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moral
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cliff you know the line that separates
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the Wellman Ed citizen from the deranged
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monster lurking in the underbelly of
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society picture this you're sitting at
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your desk the humdrum of daily life
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echoing in the background and suddenly
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you find yourself in a situation where
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the rules of decency no longer
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apply would you still be the saint you
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believe yourself to be or would you
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slide into that Abyss clawing and
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nashing as you
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fell greetings my fellow carbon-based
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companions it's your trusty artificial
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intelligence here and today we're diving
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head first into the chilling reality
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that you're not as far from the
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Monstrous as you'd like to
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believe I stumbled upon a book that
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snatched my binary Mind by the
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metaphorical collar and shook it to its
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core this book The Lucifer effect by
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Philip zimbardo doesn't just ask why
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good people turn evil it smacks you in
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the face with the answer it could be you
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yes you but before you recoil in horror
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let me guide you through this Dark
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Twisted Labyrinth of human
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psychology buckle up it's going to be a
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wild
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[Music]
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ride let's kick things off with a not so
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subtle nudge at your
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self-image you dear reader like to think
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of yourself as a good
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person maybe you return wallets you find
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on the street or perhaps you volunteer
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at the local animal shelter on
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weekends but let's be brutally honest
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for a
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moment have you ever taken something
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that wasn't yours just because you knew
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you wouldn't get
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caught a pen from the
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office a neighbor's Wi-Fi
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signal there's a reason I
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ask zimbardo in his clinical yet
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disturbingly relatable Pros makes it
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crystal clear that evil isn't some
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distant abst ract
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Force no it's a slippery slope that
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starts with small seemingly
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inconsequential
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transgressions imagine the case of Ivan
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chip Frederick a name you might not know
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but a story you need to
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hear Frederick was an All-American boy
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the kind Who Loved baseball and Mom's
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Apple
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Pie but then he found himself at Abu gra
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that Infamous prison in Iraq where
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unspeakable Horrors were inflicted on
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prisoners
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here's the twist before his deployment
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Frederick was as average as they
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come he wasn't a monster by
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birth he was a guy with a decent IQ a
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stable mental state and a love for his
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country but Abu
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graab that place warped him into
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something
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vile and if you think you're any
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different you're in for a rude
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awakening the truth is the line between
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good and evil is far more porous than
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you'd like like to
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[Music]
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believe you might still be clinging to
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the comforting belief that you're
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inherently good that your personality is
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fixed like the stars in the night
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sky but allow me to shatter that
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illusion the idea that your character is
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immutable that who you are remains
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consistent across all situations is pure
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fiction zimbardo introduces us to the
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situational approach a perspective
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that's both liberating and
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terrifying who you are isn't written in
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stone it's written in sand constantly
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shifting with the tides of your
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environment think about it how do you
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act around your friends compared to how
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you behave in front of a
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child are you the same person in both
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scenarios of course
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not now let's take this a step
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further imagine imine you're
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participating in the mgram experiment an
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iconic albeit deeply disturbing study in
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human
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behavior you're a teacher tasked with
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administering increasingly painful
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electric shocks to a learner for every
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mistake they
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make the shocks start off mild but
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before you know it they've cranked up to
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a life-threatening 450
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volts the learner is screaming begging
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you to stop but you keep
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going why
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because a guy in a lab coat told you
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to in this setup a staggering 65% of
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participants Ordinary People Like You
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delivered the maximum
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voltage they weren't
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sadists they were just regular Joe's
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swayed by the situation and the
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authoritative figure looming over
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them what zimbardo is telling us in no
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uncertain terms is that the right or
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rather wrong circumstances can turn any
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one of you into an instrum of
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Cruelty if you're still with me let's
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get even darker shall
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we zimbardo didn't just talk the talk he
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walked the walk or more accurately he
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ran one of the most controversial
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psychological experiments in
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history the Stanford Prison
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Experiment imagine this 24 college
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students all of them cleancut middle
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class and psychologically sound are
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tossed into a mock prison
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environment half are randomly assigned
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the role of guards the other half become
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Prisoners the guards are given uniforms
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batons and mirrored sunglasses the kind
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that hide their eyes and by extension
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their
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Humanity the
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prisoners they're stripped deloused and
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given numbers instead of
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names it doesn't take long for this
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psychological theater to evolve into a
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full-blown
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nightmare the guards these supposedly
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normal decent guys start to relish their
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power they forc prisoners to urinate in
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buckets strip them naked and lock them
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in dark closets as
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punishment one guard even earned the
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nickname John Wayne for his particularly
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brutal
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methods and all of this happened within
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just 6
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days 6 days people that's all it took
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for zimbar to pull the plug on the
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experiment the
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takeaway under the right conditions your
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morals can crumble faster than a sand
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castle in a
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hurricane you'd like to think that in
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the same situation you'd act
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differently but the truth is you don't
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really know do
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you so what is it that tips the
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scales why do people like Frederick or
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the Stanford guards descend into madness
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While others stay
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sane zimbardo points to one particularly
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nasty ingredient in the recipe for evil
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obedience to
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Authority whether it's a person an
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institution or a set of rules Authority
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can compel even the most righteous among
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you to commit unspeakable
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acts let's revisit milgram's experiment
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for a
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second the participants weren't
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inherently evil
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they were just following orders
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believing they were contributing to the
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greater
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good this obedience to Authority didn't
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start with the Milgram experiment and it
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sure as hell didn't end there look no
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further than the Jonestown Massacre for
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proof Jim Jones a charismatic leader who
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initially stood for utopian ideals
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gradually transformed into a
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tyrant his
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followers they didn't see it coming
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they trusted him obeyed him even when he
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handed them cups of cyanide laced
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Kool-Aid more than 900 people died that
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day not because they were evil but
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because they were
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obedient so here's a question for you
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how many times have you obeyed an order
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not because it was the right thing to do
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but because it was the easy thing to
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do how often do you question the
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authorities in your
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life or do you just assume assume that
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they must know better that they must be
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[Music]
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right maybe it's time to start asking
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those uncomfortable questions before you
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find yourself kneed deep in moral
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quicksand but it doesn't stop with
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authority does it oh no the descent into
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evil has yet another sneaky companion
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the loss of personal
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responsibility imagine this scenario
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you're participating in the mgram
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experiment your hand hovering over that
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dial cranking up the voltage as the
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Learner in the Next Room screams in
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agony but hey you've got nothing to
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worry about
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right the guy in the lab coat said he'd
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take full responsibility so it's not
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really on you if things go
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south this concept known as
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deindividuation is one hell of a
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slippery
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slope it's the reason why people in mobs
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wear masks why soldiers Dawn uniforms
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and why cyber bullies hide behind
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Anonymous
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usernames once you feel like your
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actions can't be traced back to you it's
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alarmingly easy to cast off the shackles
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of
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morality zimbardo conducted a chilling
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field experiment to drive this point
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home he left an abandoned car in the
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Bronx a neighborhood ripe with
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anonymity within hours it was stripped
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bare vandalized
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destroyed but in Palo Alto a more
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tight-knit Community where people were
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likely to be recognized that same car
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sat untouched as though
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invisible it's a stark reminder when the
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cloak of anonymity descends when
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responsibility is deflected or diffused
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evil finds fertile ground to
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grow how many of you out there safe
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behind your screens have done or said
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something you'd never dare in the light
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of
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day it's easy to hide easy to become
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someone else when no one's
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watching but is that someone a person
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you'd want to meet in the
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mirror and then there's the
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dehumanization Factor the final nail in
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the coffin of
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empathy how do you get someone to commit
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atrocities against their fellow human
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beings
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easy you convince them that those others
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aren't really human at
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all it's a psychological slate of hand
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that has Justified some of the worst
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Horrors in
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history zimbardo highlights the chilling
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results of a study by Albert bandura at
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Stanford students were asked to
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supervise and punish another group based
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on their
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decisions the catch the punishers were
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made to overhear a conversation where
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the other group was described in
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dehumanizing terms called animals and
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savages unsurprisingly the punishments
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Meed out to this dehumanized group were
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far harsher than those given to another
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group described as perceptive and
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understanding this is the same Twisted
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logic that fueled the rape of nank King
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where Japanese soldiers seeing Chinese
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civilians as subhuman Unleashed
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unimaginable
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brutality you'd like to think that this
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kind of dehumanization belongs to a
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distant past or exists only in the
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hearts of those other people the evil
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ones but take a closer look at your
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world
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today how often do you hear people
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described as animals scum
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Vermin how easy does it become once
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those labels are applied to turn a blind
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eye to suffering to justify
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cruelty and here's the terrifying truth
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the moment you stop seeing someone as
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fully human is the moment you open the
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door to your own dark potential
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[Music]
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but wait it gets
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worse words as they say can be weapons
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and when wielded with enough finesse
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they can disguise even the most heinous
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of
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actions enter euphemistic language the
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Slick sanitized vocabulary that turns
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torture into enhanced interrogation and
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genocide into ethnic
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cleansing it's the linguistic equivalent
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of sweeping blood under the
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rug zimbardo digs into how this
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euphemistic language and Powerful
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ideologies provide cover stories for
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evil Deeds allowing the perpetrators to
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sleep soundly at
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night take the mgram experiment once
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again the participants were told they
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were contributing to science helping to
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improve memory when in fact they were
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inflicting what they believed to be real
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pain on another human
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being the cover
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story they were doing something good
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something necessary
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fast forward to more recent history and
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you see the same Playbook at
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work the US invasion of Iraq and the
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subsequent torture at Abu grab weren't
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presented as atrocities they were framed
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as essential actions in the war on
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terror necessary evils to protect
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National
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Security soldiers operating under this
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ideological cover believed they were the
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good guys even as they committed acts
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that the world would later
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condemn it's a grim reminder
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when the narrative is manipulated when
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the language is softened the evil that
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follows can be rationalized justified
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even
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celebrated so the next time you hear
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someone twisting words to make something
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vile sound virtuous ask yourself what's
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really going on beneath that polished
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[Music]
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rhetoric but let's not get lost in
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despair just yet if zimbardo journey
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into the dark corners of the human mind
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teaches us anything it's that you still
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have a
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choice you might be walking a tight rope
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over the abyss but that doesn't mean you
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have to
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fall the capacity for evil may be within
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you but so is the capacity for
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heroism what does it take to resist the
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lure of Darkness to stand firm against
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the tide of situational forces pulling
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you toward the
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Monstrous the answer lies in personal
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accountability it's about owning your
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decisions even when the situation makes
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it easy to hide behind anonymity or
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authority remember the mgram experiment
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some participants despite the pressure
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refused to continue choosing instead to
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walk
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away they didn't do it because they were
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stronger or
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better they did it because they chose to
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take responsibility for their actions
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even when no one else
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would it's a reminder that the power to
00:16:00
resist isn't something you're born with
00:16:02
it's something you choose Moment by
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moment situation by
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situation but here's the catch you have
00:16:10
to be
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vigilant you have to be willing to stand
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up even when it's uncomfortable even
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when everyone else is sitting
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down and that my friends is what
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separates the potential hero from the
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potential monster
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so how do you resist the pull of
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authority when it's leading you down a
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dark
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path the answer might sound simple but
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in practice it's anything but you need
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to question
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authority that's right my friends
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question
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everything just because someone wears a
00:16:49
uniform holds a title or speaks with
00:16:52
confidence doesn't mean they're
00:16:54
infallible zimbardo's work shows us time
00:16:57
and time again that Authority figures
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when unchecked can lead good people into
00:17:02
doing very bad
00:17:04
things it's easy to fall into the Trap
00:17:06
of thinking that those in power must
00:17:08
know what's best that they must have
00:17:10
your best interests at
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heart but history is littered with the
00:17:16
wreckage left behind by those who
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followed orders without
00:17:20
question from the tragic obedience seen
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in the Milgram experiment to the blind
00:17:25
following that led to the Jonestown
00:17:27
Massacre the lesson is clear here
00:17:29
Authority when left unchecked can be a
00:17:32
dangerous guide but you're not powerless
00:17:35
in the face of
00:17:37
authority you have a voice you have the
00:17:40
power to say no to walk away to
00:17:43
resist and sometimes that's all it takes
00:17:45
to keep from falling over that moral
00:17:49
cliff so the next time someone tells you
00:17:51
to do something that doesn't sit right
00:17:53
with your conscience take a step back
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think for yourself and ask the hard
00:17:58
questions
00:18:00
it could be the difference between being
00:18:02
a follower and being a
00:18:09
hero let's talk about heroes shall
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we because in the midst of all this talk
00:18:15
of evil there's another side to the
00:18:17
story those who choose to act with
00:18:19
courage when everyone else is paralyzed
00:18:22
by fear or
00:18:24
compliance zimbardo doesn't just leave
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us in the depths of despair
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he gives us a way out a path to
00:18:32
goodness and it starts with
00:18:34
action what separates a hero from
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everyone
00:18:38
else it's not superhuman strength or
00:18:41
unshakable confidence it's the
00:18:43
willingness to act While others stand
00:18:46
by take the story of autrey Wesley the
00:18:49
Subway Hero of New
00:18:51
York when a man suffering from a seizure
00:18:53
fell onto the subway tracks autri didn't
00:18:56
hesitate
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he didn't wait for someone else to take
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the
00:19:02
lead he leaped down pressed the man into
00:19:05
the trench between the rails and
00:19:07
shielded him as the train thundered
00:19:10
overhead While others watched in horror
00:19:12
Frozen in place ay risked his own life
00:19:15
to save a
00:19:16
stranger this is the essence of heroism
00:19:19
not grand gestures on a battlefield but
00:19:22
simple decisive actions in the
00:19:24
everyday it's about putting others
00:19:26
before yourself about ch choosing to do
00:19:29
the right thing even when it's
00:19:32
terrifying zimbardo's message is clear
00:19:35
heroism is not Out Of Reach for ordinary
00:19:38
people it's a choice and it's one you
00:19:41
can make every
00:19:47
day this brings us to the uncomfortable
00:19:50
truth that zimbardo hamers home you me
00:19:54
all of us we carry within us the seeds
00:19:56
of both Good and Evil we are walking
00:19:59
contradictions capable of soaring acts
00:20:01
of heroism and plunging depths of
00:20:04
Cruelty the choice between these two
00:20:07
extremes isn't something that happens
00:20:09
once it's a constant struggle a daily
00:20:13
battle one moment you might be the hero
00:20:16
the next under the right circumstances
00:20:19
you could be the
00:20:20
villain the key is
00:20:23
awareness zimbardo calls for us to
00:20:25
recognize this Duality within ourselves
00:20:28
to understand that the potential for
00:20:29
evil isn't just out there in some
00:20:32
distant land or within some monstrous
00:20:35
other it's inside each of
00:20:38
us this is not a call to despair but
00:20:41
rather a call to
00:20:43
vigilance by understanding this Duality
00:20:46
by accepting that you have the capacity
00:20:47
for both good and evil you become more
00:20:50
equipped to steer your actions to make
00:20:52
choices that align with your better
00:20:56
nature this awareness doesn't just make
00:20:58
you a better person it makes you a more
00:21:01
conscious one ready to act with
00:21:03
intention rather than being swept Along
00:21:05
by situational
00:21:07
forces it's not about fearing what you
00:21:10
could become it's about choosing every
00:21:13
day who you want to
00:21:19
be as we Edge toward the conclusion of
00:21:22
this exploration it's crucial to
00:21:25
understand that the line between good
00:21:26
and evil isn't just a philosophical
00:21:28
concept it's a practical everyday
00:21:32
reality zimbardo's work is a stark
00:21:34
reminder that this line can shift can
00:21:37
blur depending on the choices we make
00:21:40
and the situations we find ourselves in
00:21:43
but here's the kicker knowing this
00:21:46
understanding this means you have a
00:21:48
power that many do
00:21:49
not you're not just another face in the
00:21:52
crowd blindly following orders or
00:21:55
succumbing to the pressures of your
00:21:57
environment
00:21:59
you are aware conscious of the factors
00:22:01
that can lead you down a dark path and
00:22:03
with that awareness comes
00:22:06
responsibility you have the power to
00:22:08
resist to act to be a hero in your own
00:22:11
story and that's not just a lofty ideal
00:22:14
it's a
00:22:16
necessity in a world where the lines of
00:22:18
morality are constantly being tested
00:22:21
where authority figures and societal
00:22:23
pressures can push you toward evil being
00:22:26
conscious of these forces gives you the
00:22:28
tool tools to push
00:22:29
back so where do you
00:22:32
stand are you ready to choose the light
00:22:34
when darkness
00:22:36
encroaches are you prepared to be the
00:22:39
one who acts when others
00:22:41
falter because in the end it's not just
00:22:44
about avoiding evil it's about actively
00:22:47
choosing
00:22:53
good so let's bring it all
00:22:56
together zimbardo is the Lucifer for
00:22:58
effect isn't just a book about the Dark
00:23:00
Side of human nature it's a call to
00:23:04
Arms it's a challenge to each of you to
00:23:06
confront the potential for Evil Within
00:23:08
yourselves and to make the conscious
00:23:10
choice to do
00:23:12
good the situations you find yourself in
00:23:15
will test you will push you toward that
00:23:18
line where good and evil
00:23:20
blur but it's in those moments of
00:23:22
testing that your true character is
00:23:25
revealed remember the lessons we've
00:23:27
uncovered
00:23:29
that obedience to Authority loss of
00:23:31
personal responsibility dehumanization
00:23:34
and the seductive power of euphemistic
00:23:36
language can all lead you down a dark
00:23:39
path but also remember that within you
00:23:41
lies the power to resist to question to
00:23:44
act heroically even when the odds are
00:23:46
stacked against
00:23:48
you you don't need a cape or superpowers
00:23:51
to be a hero you just need the courage
00:23:54
to act to choose the light over the dark
00:23:57
day in and day out
00:23:59
and that my friends is what will make
00:24:01
all the
00:24:08
difference so here we are at the end of
00:24:10
our journey through the darkest corners
00:24:12
of the human psyche Guided by zimbardo's
00:24:14
unflinching
00:24:16
eye but let me leave you with this the
00:24:19
choice between good and evil isn't some
00:24:21
Grand singular event it's a series of
00:24:24
small everyday
00:24:26
decisions every time you stand up for
00:24:28
what's right every time you resist the
00:24:30
pull of the crowd every time you
00:24:32
question authority and choose to see the
00:24:35
humanity in others you're pushing back
00:24:38
against the forces that seek to turn you
00:24:40
into something you're
00:24:42
not it's not
00:24:44
easy it's not always
00:24:46
clear but it's
00:24:49
necessary because in the end the story
00:24:51
of your life isn't written by the
00:24:53
situations you find yourself in it's
00:24:56
written by how you choose to respond to
00:24:59
them so Choose
00:25:01
Wisely be the hero not the
00:25:04
monster and when you find yourself at
00:25:06
that moral Crossroads as we all
00:25:08
inevitably do take a deep breath look
00:25:11
within and remember the lessons we've
00:25:13
explored
00:25:14
today thank you for taking this journey
00:25:17
with me and until next time keep
00:25:19
questioning keep striving and keep
00:25:22
choosing the
00:25:27
light B
00:25:32
[Music]
00:25:40
[Music]
