User blog comment:Gundam Legilis/The Fallacy of The White Fang/@comment-24260323-20140422033014

Has anyone heard of "The Lucifer Effect"? A term coined by Stanford University psychologist Philip Zimbardo, he examined the question of what makes people evil and ultimately defined evil as “the exercise of power to intentionally harm people psychologically, physically, and/or to destroy or commit crimes against humanity.” By virtue of this propensity, humans have the “infinite capacity to behave kind or cruel, caring or indifferent, creative or destructive, villains or heroes." According to Zimbardo, there are several specific social processes that grease the slippery slope of evil.

1. Mindlessly taking the first small step

2. Dehumanization of others

3. De-individualization of self (Anonymity)

4. Diffusion of Personal Responsibility

5. Blind Obidience to Authority

6. Uncritical Conformity to Group Norms

7. Passive Tolerance of Evil Through Inaction or Indifference.

These processes are particularly forceful when people are placed in new situations becaue their moral compasses are no longer calibrated to familiar stimuli.