Author: LanceLance
Date: Jul 1, 2008 15:11
NYT
July 1, 2008
Mind
Decades Later, Still Asking: Would I Pull That Switch?
By BENEDICT CAREY
Some of psychology’s most famous experiments are those that expose the
skull beneath the skin, the apparent cowardice or depravity pooling in
almost every heart.
The findings force a question. Would I really do that? Could I betray
my own eyes, my judgment, even my humanity, just to complete some
experiment?
The answer, if it’s an honest one, often gives rise to observations
about the cruelties of the day, whether suicide bombing, torture or
gang atrocities. And so a psych experiment — a mock exercise, testing
individual behavior — can become something else, a changing prism
through which people view the larger culture, for better and for
worse.
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