Answering discussion

Part1

“The Psychology of Evil.” Philip Zimbardo is a VERY fast talker. Here are some questions for discussion:

1. What is the Lucifer effect? How does it relate to apples, barrels, and barrel makers?
2. Have you heard of Abu Ghraib prison before this video? Who do you think is responsible for the atrocities committed there?
3. Discuss the Stanley Milgram experiments on obedience. What factors do you think led people to shock the subject all the way up to 450 volts?
4. Discuss the seven social processes that grease the slippery slope of evil. Which do you think is most important? Why?
5. Zimbardo states that the antidote to evil is heroism, and we should be awakening the heroic imagination in people. Do you consider yourself a “hero-in-waiting”?

Part2

Watch Erica Chenoweth’s TED talk “The Success of Nonviolent Civil Resistance”:

1. What is nonviolent civil resistance? Why is is more successful than violent resistance?

2. Why is 3.% of population involvement the threshhold?

3. Have you ever been a part of a protest movement than engaged in nonviolent civil resistance? If so, describe your experience. If not, what would it take for you to join?

4. Chenoweth discusses some reforms in curricular content. Why do you think schools emphasize the history of violence rather than nonviolence?