Evil starts with 15 volts

In his talk on the processes which influence people toward evil or heroism, Philip Zimbardo used the phrase in the title of this entry. His larger point was that evil (dehumanizing or unjust acts) often appears in the midst of a dysfunctional system in which people can comfortably renounce their responsibility to a higher authority or otherwise refrain from engaging morally in prevention of evil acts. He was referencing the Milgram experiment in which 15 volts was the starting level on a scale that ranged to 450 with the point that in the right circumstances it is quite easy to ignore one ethical guidelines - especially if the consequences can be reasoned away as negligible. That step is a desensitizing first of many and is what, ultimately, separates those who do evil - actively or passively - from everyday heroes.

The larger most interesting question concerns how to recognize, evaluate and change (or dismantle) those systems that encourage or permit immoral behavior. I will not be pondering that one. Instead, I've been trying to pin down all those 15 volt shocks that I deliver daily - consciously or subconsciously, intentionally or inadvertently. Where are those tiny acts of obeying systemic norms to the harm of the individual or ignoring the needs of others for my own comfort that eventually snowball?

Unsurprisingly, I guess, this has been harder than I initially imagined.

As people we are quite skilled at absolving ourselves from responsibility in a great many situations. We say to ourselves that we probably have misunderstood, we're not aware of the circumstances, that it isn't our business or that intervention would probably just escalate the conflict. This is what I say to myself, at least. If I can escape the discomfort by just enough then out of sight, out of mind takes over and I can sleep soundly.

That is a less-than-heroic coping mechanism for dealing with uncomfortable (unjust) situations, however small they might be reasoned to be.

I am going to make a concerted effort to be mindful of those times when I try to reason my way out of responsibility for the well-being of others, not just in the major headline-making cases, but in those that will never be mentioned. I really hope that the easy and comfort of passivity doesn't win out.