We want to believe in the essential, unchanging goodness of people, in their power to resist external pressures, in their rational appraisal and then rejection of situational temptations. We invest human nature with God-like qualities, with moral and rational faculties that make us both just and wise. We simplify the complexity of human experience by erecting a seemingly impermeable boundary between Good and Evil.


The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil (ed. Random House, 2007) - ISBN: 9781588365873

Philip Zimbardo Quotes

We want to believe in the essential, unchanging goodness of people, in their power to resist external pressures, in their rational appraisal and then ...

We want to believe in the essential, unchanging goodness of people, in their power to resist external pressures, in their rational appraisal and then ...

We want to believe in the essential, unchanging goodness of people, in their power to resist external pressures, in their rational appraisal and then ...

We want to believe in the essential, unchanging goodness of people, in their power to resist external pressures, in their rational appraisal and then ...