Now and Here…

via photoblog

The Anatomy of Human Destructiveness

Man differs from the animal by the fact that he is a killer; He the only primate that kills and tortures members of own species without any reason, either biological and economic, and who feels satisfaction in doing so.

Quoted from the book: The Anatomy of Human Destructiveness by Erich Fromm

We all live in the darkness. We don’t know what will happen tomorrow or a second later. Most of the times we don’t know what we do or why we do (except our daily routine)… Living in the darkness does not mean that we’ve bad intentions. It simply means that we can’t see around because there’s no spritual light and that makes us crazy though our behavior seems like perfectly correct from the inside look but… You can’t be sure, right? You need approvals, confirmation from the others.

I think Erich Fromm is wrong here. We all have our own reasons to kill and torture other people (and even ourselves). Some people guide others to kill for the money or for a better life, for the food and so on. If someone takes the responsibility of killing, why others have to stop and worry at all? They’re the operators only!

Some people will allways light a way in the darkness in their own interests, and others will follow without knowing the “light bringer’s” real intentions.

Stanley Milgram Experiment

via history.ucsb.edu

In the experiment, so-called “teachers” (S) (who were actually the unknowing subjects of the experiment) were recruited by Milgram (E). They were asked administer an electric shock of increasing intensity to a “learner” (A) for each mistake he made during the experiment. The fictitious story given to these “teachers” (S) was that the experiment was exploring effects of punishment (for incorrect responses) on learning behavior. The “teacher” (S) was not aware that the “learner” (A) in the study was actually an actor - - merely indicating discomfort as the “teacher” (S) increased the electric shocks.

When the “teacher” (S) asked whether increased shocks should be given he/she was verbally encouraged to continue. Sixty percent of the “teachers” (S) obeyed orders to punish the learner (A) to the very end of the 450-volt scale! No subject stopped before reaching 300 volts!

At times, the worried “teachers” (S) questioned the experimenter (E), asking who was responsible for any harmful effects resulting from shocking the learner at such a high level. Upon receiving the answer that the experimenter assumed full responsibility, teachers (S) seemed to accept the response and continue shocking, even though some were obviously extremely uncomfortable in doing so.
Source: cba.uri.edu