Zimbardo on the Daily Show

I just found out over on Edge that Philip Zimbardo was interviewed by John Stewart on the Daily Show. Here's the link!

The interview was pretty cool. He mainly talks about his new book, The Lucifer Effect.

If you have ever taken an Introductory Psychology course, then you have probably heard of Dr. Zimbardo. He is basically one of the biggest, if not the biggest, figurehead in social psychology. Zimbardo is mostly known for his Stanford Prison Experiement. You can go to the website for extra details, but basically his study showed how ordinary, good people can be outrageously cruel. His study, along with others in social psychology (such as Milgram's obedience study), showed that people don't necessarily do bad things because they are just plain evil. Instead his study emphasizes the power of the situation. Anyone can be persuaded to hurt others, if one encounters the situational forces that provoke that behavior. At the same time, it seems that anyone can be an angel under circumstances that provoke that behavior.

Anyways, the interview was good, so check it out!