How to Not Be Evil 101

Are you capable of evil?

Most of us would decline to this assertion definitively, but there’s evidence to show that the line is much thinner than you’d think between the normal you and “evil” you. 

The notorious Stanford Prison Experiment by Professor Zambardo is maybe the most notorious evidence for this. Rather than answer the question above directly, I think it’s useful to examine what conditions made the destruction in the prison experiment possible. 

For context, the prison experiment took two dozen well-to-do men and women from the Stanford campus and split them randomly into two groups: prisoners and prison guards. The basement of the psychology building became the “prison” and within days the “guards” were systematically abusing the “prisoners” to such a degree that the experiment was forcibly halted. 

Did the otherwise peaceful participants really turn evil because of their role as “prison guard?” 

It turns out that some conditions paved the way for their atrocities. The experiment design included these fatal elements:

1. DEHUMANIZATION. Prisoners were referred to by their number; not their names. 
2. ANONYMITY. Guards were given large reflective sunglasses to hide their eyes. 

What’s the take away here? It’s much easier to mistreat people that we’ve made into an “other.” When we depersonalize people, it’s easier for us to do evil to them. Furthermore, it’s easier to behave in evil ways when we don’t have to stand behind our actions. 

If you’re in conflict with someone, the solution to improved connection and humanity is by personalizing them rather than the opposite. It’s also making your interactions with them human and direct. 

This explains how hiding behind keyboards and masks as well as generalizing individuals is the most common path to mistreating each other.

Let’s do better!