[Reading Notes] The Lucifer Effect 路西法效应
Love this book! It was super striking in the first half of the book when Zimbardo detailed the Stanford Prison Experiment, from the start to the end. It was shocking to know how the student participants changed almost erratically just a few days into the experiment. The second half of the book was very thought-provoking as Zimbardo discussed what was learned from the experiment and the implications and applications in our world and society today.
I learned that the environment and situation that a person is in could really change/shape a person, including his/her emotions, behaviors and thoughts. Under extreme conditions, like extreme stress, people may do things that they never thought they would have done before. It also makes me realize how we all tend to be “followers” of the environment. We tend to become what the environment encourages us to become, and we tend to comply with and eventually maintain and uphold the prevailing norms and notions in the society. This could be a good thing, for example, if the environment is positive and encourages people to live happy, love each other and pursue healthy lifestyles. However, if we are not careful enough, we may be blinded when the environment turns us evil. For example, soldiers (or even just normal citizens) may kill/torture innocent citizens from another country during wartime, as the prevailing notion of “enemy” and the hatred towards “our enemy” justify this harm. Zimbardo gave an excellent discussion of how this justification process of hurting other people takes place psychologically. We may “depersonalize” ourselves and other people, expunging all the unique characteristics and personalities associated with ourselves and others. In this process, we don’t recognize ourselves as who we are and what we believe in, and we don’t recognize others as who they are uniquely. It is easy then, that we categorize people into groups, into “we” and “they”, and assign both ourselves and others of how we/they should act/think. We may “dehumanize” people who the society encourage us to “hate” and view as “enemy”. “Dehumanization” is scary, as it justifies our actions to harm others when we view others as insignificant “things”, virus, insects, rather than other human beings just like ourselves.
It is rewarding to read the book, as it got me thinking how I might act in different situations. If I were one of the participants of the Stanford Prison Experiment, and if I were one of the guards, would I harm the prisoners immorally in that stressful environment? If I were one of the prisoners, what could I do and what would I do? I don’t know, but I am glad that I think about these questions. I am glad to be aware that the environment could change someone in both positive and negative ways, as I think the awareness is the first step in fighting against the force/influence when it is negative/immoral. For me, I think I would establish a few “bottom lines” for myself, which are the rules that I should never break in whatever circumstances. I think setting these bottom lines could be a good reminder of who I am what I value and see as important in normal situations, and thus help me decide what to do in extreme situations.
After reading the book, my biggest fear is the possibility that I may hurt someone immorally one day in some extreme environment, so I guess my first “bottom line” is: I should never humiliate someone immorally in whatever situation; I should never hurt someone physically, except self-defense situations when the other person is exerting harm to me.
