Accountability

***Warning...serious post:::

Today I finished reading The Lucifer Effect by Philip Zimbardo. My library book has so many little torn pieces of paper as individual bookmarks that it looks like its molting. The book was a difficult read from the stand point of learning about the extreme levels of depravity we humans can reach. He presents his initial Stanford Prison Experiment and its benign beginning that quickly became malignant due to dehumanization and deindividuation of the students who were randomly assigned as guards or prisoners. This book has had quite an impact on me. I have cried reading the accounts of the treatment of the student "prisoners" by the student "guards" and been cheered when Christine Maslach (Zimbardo) was able to convince Zimbardo that the experiment had gone over the line and needed to be shut down immediately. I am also disheartened by our governments behavior in the war in Iraq. Our initial stated goal being liberation has spiralled quickly into abuse and paranoia of the people we were told we were to liberate from their own horrific regime. I worry that we send our troops in with noble goals and leave them in a quagmire of ineffective leadership and corruption were they become helpless and ineffectual. We should hold ourselves and our leaders to higher standards and that is how we can be a beacon to the world.

I approached this book with a huge ethos bias. I saw things with the perspective that was largely dispostionally situated where all blame or praise came from the individual's actions. During the process of reading this book Zimbardo was able to persuade me to see a more situational viewpoint. At no time does he suggest that individuals are not accountable for their actions, but what he does is explain the situational dynamics that create toxic or healthy actions.
It has always been a fascination to me that those who "blow the whistle" on wrong doing are seen as an annoyance rather than a needed brake on folks taking the fast train to hell. Instead of shame those discovered in their wrong doing feel rage and the desire to lash out.

Zimbardo doesn't just leave us in the heart of darkness, but guides us into a brighter place with ideas on how we can be in a better position to model the behaviors of a society that does more than espouse goodness. The first suggestion he gives is to be able to recognize that we have made a mistake and apologize for it. Another is to take responsibility for our actions. If in any situation we find ourselves we recognize that we are accountable for all of our actions we will always have our moral compass aligned. Zimbardo stated that if we start by asking people to do small acts of kindness and service then they will be more likely to perform larger acts of service later. Modeling this behavior is always the best way to get this acts of goodness to stick. My husband is an example to those around him with his standing appointments with The Red Cross to give platelets. This act of sacrifice and charity hopefully inspire others to offer some form of kindness in whatever way they are able.
This book will make you think, feel and evaluate yourself and the world around you. I find it one of the best books I've been fortunate enough to read. The book is thoroughly footnoted, which I also recommend reading as you read the book.

:::::::::::::::Additional Thoughts::::::

I love the message in this commercial:


:::::::::::::::What I've Done::::::

This is a song by Linkin Park that Aaron showed me on You Tube and I thought it was relevant to the book review:


LINKIN PARK LYRICS

"What I've Done"

In this farewell
There?s no blood
There?s no alibi
?Cause I?ve drawn regret
From the truth
Of a thousand lies

[Pre-Chorus:]
So let mercy come
And wash away
What I?ve done

[Chorus:]
I'll face myself
To cross out what i?ve become
Erase myself
And let go of what i?ve done

Put to rest
What you thought of me
While I clean this slate
With the hands of uncertainty

[Pre-Chorus]

[Chorus]

For what I?ve done
I start again
And whatever pain may come
Today this ends
I?m forgiving what I?ve done!!!

[Chorus]

What I?ve done
Forgiving what I?ve done


[Thanks to Josh Schall (fishy6081@hotmail.com) for these lyrics]
[Thanks to Trish, Joe Gilbertson for correcting these lyrics]

[ www.azlyrics.com ]


:::::::::::::::::::::Next Book:::::::::

Emotions Revealed: Recognizing Faces and Feelings to Improve Communication and Emotional Life by Paul Ekman

:::::::::::::::::::::Personal Observation:::::::::

Today Michael called me on his way out of town to go spelunking with Aaron and the Scouts. He mentioned that one of the other leaders let him know that when he drives he sets his cruise control to the speed limit and just steers. This was an obvious warning to not to leave him behind and that he wouldn't break the speed laws to keep up. After I hung up I started to think about how I drive and my opinion of cruise control. Well, I don't use it...ever. I, in fact, dislike it strongly. Michael, on the other, hand loves to use it on long trips so he can relax his legs and get more comfortable. Looking at it practically and physically I don't use cruise control because it makes me numb to driving. I get sleepy and a bit bored, which are two feelings I don't support for any driver. I like to remain in control...and here is where we cross the line into psychology...I want to be responsible for how fast I'm driving from my brain to my feet. I was reminded just how much I like to be in control of my vehicle and how I drive when I swapped cars with my stepdad on Thursday. He needed to pick up friends from the airport and his Jeep was just too small to fit everyone and their things. I had a blast driving his 5 speed manual transmission. I miss being able to choose when to shift and it's just fun to shift the gears. My first car was a Ford Fiasco Fiesta 1974. My other manual transmission cars were a 1989 Toyota 4x4 Pickup truck and a 1994 Geo Prism. I get grouchy when I think about not being able to find a 7 seat vehicle with a stick shift. If anyone drives past me I won't be using cruise control and, unfortunately, I won't be shifting gears manually.


:::::::::::::::::::::Noah's Questions, Today:::

What do you think is at the edge of space?

Don't you think it would be cool of "The Fabric of Space" was really fabric and you could cut it with scissors?

Do you ever wonder how time began?

By the way, Noah was watching "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" last night. Luckily, he knows that the answer to the quesion of the meaning of life!

Smiles to my fellow earthlings!