LAWLzoR

Before I head to sleep in a little bit, I'm going to share a little fact found in the history of psychology.

Sometime during the 50s or 60s there was a study done in a university. The doctor (psychologist) brought volunteers into the basement of the university and told one half of the volunteers they were prisoners, and told the other half that they were the guards. I should mention that before this, the people who signed up and were the "prisoners" were arrested by real cops playing along with the study. So while in the basement of the university there were pretend cells for every prisoner who wore a long cloak and some pants. The "guards" were given sticks/batons and could do anything they wanted basically.

Within a few days of the study, the volunteers that were the guards actually started to be guards. They thought the pretend prisoners were actual prisoners and thought nothing more of them than prisoners. The "guards" started to humiliate, assault, and insult the "prisoners" if the "guard" thought they were being disrespectful. The "prisoners" started to act like prisoners. Feeling powerless, and doing out-of-line things. Psychologists believe they acted this way because since they could never rise in rank no matter how good they were, they just decided to act out of line and be exactly as they were perceived.

What does this tell us? It shows that all we need is a little push, and a little bit of convincing for people to break their own moral codes. The "guards" weren't specifically picked. They were random people or students found on or around the campus. And they went this far because of things they were told. This is very similar to another psychological test done in the 60s that I'll go over with hopefully tomorrow or day after.

And as always, don't forget to be awesome.