Comment by dmfdmf | Hacker News Reader

Comment by dmfdmf | Hacker News Reader

Who cares? Isn't this an experiment validating a known conclusion anyway? Evil exists in the hearts of many. Give these bad people unlimited power and they will take out their frustrations on their fellow man. We see this all around us, if one is paying attention. The disgruntled Russian doorman, the lady who runs the local Home Owner's Association and likes to boss people around to sooth her psuedo-ego, the cop who shoots the non-aggressive dog or chokes out a cuffed arrestee because he can. And let's not forget the biggest experiment of all -- Nazi Germany where millions died. Now there is an experiment that went on way too long and should have been aborted. I just hope we learn the right lessons.

NB: I am not saying everyone is evil.

I think the reason why the experiment, if true, is so fascinating is because it's about normal people put into an abnormal situation rather than inherently bad people being given power.

What I take away from the experiment is that given the right situation and pressures, most people would do things they thought they would never otherwise do. More importantly, I think it's probably a mistake to think that you're the exception and are morally incorruptible.

This is exactly the conclusion they want you to reach. Who are you to judge? Who are you to condemn anyone since you are evil too? This is the charter of liberty for evil and all evil needs to survive, even prosper. This "experiment" is the biblical tenet of Original Sin masquerading as science and I reject it. If your moral principles cannot be practiced consistently by all men then something is wrong with your principles, not human nature.

The conclusion would essentially say that some social structures are more explanatory of behavior than individual psychology. Given how much importance people place on personal idiosyncrasy or psychology, I'd say this is pretty cool if better confirmed.

Why qualify it with "some" social structures? You could come right out and say it like Karl Marx that social structures explain behavior -- but then you'd have the same problem he did which is that it reverses cause and effect.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com