Professor Philip Zimbardo, creator of the famous Stanford Prison Experiment in the 1971 which put students into a prison setting, randomly chosen to be either guards or prisoners.
Wired: You've said that the way to prevent evil actions is to teach the "banality of kindness" -- that is, to get society to exemplify ordinary people who engage in extraordinary moral actions. How do you do this?
Zimbardo: If you can agree on a certain number of things that are morally wrong, then one way to counteract them is by training kids. There are some programs, starting in the fifth grade, which get kids to think about the heroic mentality, the heroic imagination.
To be a hero you have to take action on behalf of someone else or some principle and you have to be deviant in your society, because the group is always saying don't do it; don't step out of line. If you're an accountant at Arthur Andersen, everyone who is doing the defrauding is telling you, "Hey, be one of the team."
Heroes have to always, at the heroic decisive moment, break from the crowd and do something different. But a heroic act involves a risk. If you're a whistle-blower you're going to get fired, you're not going to get promoted, you're going to get ostracized. And you have to say it doesn't matter.
Most heroes are more effective when they're social heroes rather than isolated heroes. A single person or even two can get dismissed by the system. But once you have three people, then it's the start of an opposition.
So what I'm trying to promote is not only the importance of each individual thinking "I'm a hero" and waiting for the right situation to come along in which I will act on behalf of some people or some principle, but also, "I'm going to learn the skills to influence other people to join me in that heroic action."
wired story
more on boingboing
Well, here's the story. First time ever, peace@weboing.com (that'd be mostly the Me of Us out here at weboing) got some hate email. Y'all know I've been asking (ok begging) for Peace People to send in Peace Hero pieces for www.onemillionpeacesigns.com...well, I started asking on the flickr OMPS discussion group. John Lennon, no problem..I asked for 10 "whys", got 'em fast, put the lot of 'em up on the Peace Heros Page.
How 'bout Cindy Sheehan thought I? Put it up there, and there's some dissent....we're fine with dissent...it helps me get clearer in my own convictions, by forcing me to question...no problem.
So I dissent with the dissenters, firm up my own convictions (which were sorta cloudy when I posted the discussion...I figured all y'all would clarify CS as Peace Hero and I'd learn from that) and I'm waiting for some OMPS people to add to the discussion.
I get a minimum of 100 emails to peace@weboing.com every day....I read 'em all, I answer as many as I can...
Got my first NastyGram today. Ugh.
Certainly we don't have to all agree on ALL the Peace Heroes...like we don't all agree on favorite football teams or food faves or heck...political candidates. But the NastyGram sucked. I wished the guy peace and I didn't even cross my fingers when I typed it...
So that's my first blog of this the day of Leap Year and all that.
Zoey
Vermont Ferret took this pic. Thanks for sending it! Folks, read this in your very best Vermont dialect :)
"Cindy Sheehan inside the big tent at Camp Casey. Behind her you can see the painted banner honoring her son and the camp's namesake, Casey Sheehan. To the left of the banner is an oversized, painted wooden casket with the names of the Americans who have died in Iraq inscribed on the side."
Here's another peace hero to me: Ava Lowery. This is how she signed the peace banner. She has made some great videos and stood up to people trying to shout her down.
her blog: peace takes courage
Another is Dave Patterson, am member of Veterans for Peace. He said: "If you're not a Veteran for peace, what are you a veteran for?"
I found him...broox that is...he is cool. This isn't him; we're thinking he's behind the camera on this one and we recognize 7-14-21 as a dice game I believe, which can involve drinking. So anywayz...I was out prosteletyzing for peace and found one of broox's Peace Pix...one totally unlike this one...and I loved it. I asked him to Join the OMPS Cult and to bring his peace pix along...I was rewarded handsomely with a passle of peace pix...I chose this one really for the expression on the face of the lady in pink back there under the dart board. We imagine the conversation at that table and we smile :)
Yeah, you'll be seeing more broox in these here parts...
Zoey
Taking Full Credit for Finding Broox
OK Peace People...we found Boris. He has this fantastic set of Peace Pix that he's been collecting for a few years, and he's adding them all to OMPS. This one is Maui Volcano Peace....and having never seen a volcano, I'm not sure that I'd find it "peaceful"...I'm of the Gilligan's Island mentality that volcanoes are big and bad...
Stay tuned for lots more Boris. He travels all around...poking his camera into exotic places all over the globe...we're hoping he sends us Peace Pix from everywhere he goes :)
Maybe we need a "Where's Boris?" game...whadd'ya think? Would anyone have guessed Maui for this one? The next time I post a Boris pic I'm gonna make you guess...
Welcome Boris! Peace! Lots of it!
zoey et al
shookiemookie's caption and tags won me over on this one...he explained :
"He just said " this bus is going into the fiery pit" and then the peace sign for the photo (he was a little confused)."
The tags suggest that this is the Clark St. bus in Chicago...been there, done that, and might have sat near this guy, thereby doubling the Creep Factor. Add this to the things I miss about the Windy City...
At least he was passin it on !
zoey
Wouldn't be nice if, instead of bullets, guns only were able to shot flowers?
All we are saying,
is give peace a chance.
All we are saying is give peace a chance.
All we are saying is give peace a chance.
I doesn't matter how dark it looks... There will ALWAYS hope and light in the dark...
"...and you get a peace sign" is what justonlysteve says :)
It's late, the debate is over, TiVo style, and "Random Acts of Peace" is working on www.onemillionpeacesigns.com ! Go add one! Or two! Closing with flowers...wow, it's pretty cool that you can Make Peace with just four daisies!
Welcome to justonlysteve...and a good night to all.
zoey
Love the blue. Love the tongue. Love the Peace Fingers, aura-ed. Love the pout. Love the peace...
Hey...we're looking for ONE MORE reason that John Lennon is a Peace Hero. Got one? Go fast over to the OMPS Discussion and put in your two cents...if we get more than the 10 we're asking for, we'll put 'em all up there...we're at nine I think...c'mon Lennonites...he's the real thing.
Thanks to In search of Syd...whose stuff we dig big.
zoey
Photo: Audrey Rojo [Friendster]
Woke up a little groggy, bit of a scratchy throat maybe, coffee taste quite right, and the first thing I had to deal with was a Phone Bill Question, (need an encrypted code that no one can break? Call Qwest)...
Sitting on hold for 7 minutes I decided to get a blog up on OMPS, so I went cruising the peace pix...and after about 2 minutes I wasn't nearly as cranky as I thought I was...after 5 minutes I was smiling, and when the Phone Bill Guy finally came on line I was downright cheery. Told him about OMPS. He says he's gonna check it out.
Hi Phone Bill Guy! Thanks for your help!
I picked this photo 'cuz there's just something about Group Peace Shots that gets me right in the heart :)
Peace...pass it on in groups, and give some to your Phone Bill Guy...they're people too.
z
Peace flag in motion.
Here are some peace heroes to me:
flicker set, cick here
Robert says: "Peace activists in Olympia Washington came together in November of 2007 in an attempt to prevent the use of the municipal Port of Olympia to enable the illegal and immoral aggressive and belligerent war of occupation in Iraq.
"I participated in the actions, I submitted to arrest during a civil resistance road block. Several road blocks were effective in delaying the transport of military cargoes via the port.
"I believe that with more people, human blockades could and would be successful in completely preventing military cargoes via the port.
"I will continue to resist the unjust and improper war of occupation. I will continue to oppose the use of the municipal Port of Olympia as an enabler of military aggression.
"Please join PMR. Next time, we can be more successful in effectively preventing our own complicity. But we need each other."
For more information: click here
This one in from Vince Brown:
"Veterans Day, 2007. The military recognition for a fallen soldier. Helmet, Gun, Boots. The flowers were a nice touch. This photo was taken at Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia, PA the day before Veterans Day."
This photo is available for print in his deviantART Shop...go check it out!
This from Zoey:
I searched around the pool for a Peace Pic that had something about the 2008 election, specifically, Ralph Nader's entry into the race...well, there weren't any Peace Photos about Nader so I picked this one to announce that the I of we thinks Nader is a pompous ass.
I'll probably tick some people off. I can take it.
Yeah, it'd be great to have more than 2 parties, but this particular election is too important to cast a vote symbolically. This is one we have to win. We the Thinkers. We the Liberals. We the Peace People.
Nader isn't the guy who's going to bring Peace. He's the guy who tells you that your car is a piece of crap. That's great. He's NOT the guy who should be running the country.
And since we're now averaging over 5,000 hits a day, I just wanted 5,000 people to read that I think Nader is a pompous ass.
Disagree? Feel free to hit the comment button.
zoey
call your representative and senators with these toll free numbers:
877 851-6437
866 338-1015
866 340-9281
800 614-2803
find your representative: click here
find your senator: click here
call 'em up just to talk or give them a 'peace' of your mind!
If you're peaceful and you know it give a hand (Peace, Peace)
If you're peaceful and you know it give a hand (Peace, Peace)
If you're peaceful and you know it then you really oughta show it,
If you're peaceful and you know it give a hand (Peace, Peace)
You can take the girl outta summer camp, but you can never take the summer camp outta the girl...it just rears it's rah-rah head in different ways...
Peace! Peace!
z
packing sheet says: "I took this picture on our school field trip...Many people were passing by, and it was really embarrasing, but it was worth it!!!! astig di ba?"
We say: YES! It was definitely worth it! And did you know when you took it that your fingers appear to be right in her nostrils? :) What's cool to me is that yeah, it's Nicole Kidman, and yeah, she's way bigger than lifesize, but still what really grabs the eye (mine...I speak for mine) is the Peace V...peace is the real "star" of this one...that's pretty great!
"...and he takes me everywhere".
I have traveled far and near. I marched, protested, vigil-ed, discussed, persuaded, influenced, argued, explained, illustrated, taught, learned, fought and prayed.
I believe we can make this a better world if we want to, and if work at it together."
Welcome on board Tony the Misfit :)
That's what it is, right?
I figure it's in a record store (can we still call 'em that or does it have to be a CD store?) from the looks of it, and of course I wonder what albums ('cuz it looks like albums, of the cardboard wrapper type) the Peace Guy with the beanie is looking at.
I'm thinking it's some of those Current Peace Songs we've been blogging about :)
Thanks to mikehedge who must have been standing just below the security mirror, right? And of course we wonder what albums he was purusing...
Peace...pass it on!
zoey
That's what I wanna know! And I think it'd make a great New Yorker article...but I think everything would make a great New Yorker article...or Rolling Stone...maybe Rolling Stone...
Anyway...
For those of us who missed all the great protest tunes and tuners of the 60's, or caught up with it all way later, we'd like our own Peace Music! We have the War for it...and the Hate...and the Intolerance. Surely there should be some good notes coming out of it all.
betmo got me thinking about US Peace Songs...and I come up with good anti-war artists...James McMurtrey is a super fave...so is Steve Earle...Neil Young...and any and all remakes of "Peace Train"...yes, the Cat Stevens version too. But PEACE songs...where are they? I've still got Kumbuya in my head.
This pic has me thinking that like lots of other Good Things, US Peace Songs may have gone across the ocean...and that's fine..I'm a One World kind o' gal...your song is my song and all that
dereck von calls this Photo:
"Love, Peace and Poetry: Asian Psychedelic Music"
artist: various artists
title: Love, Peace and Poetry: Asian Psychedelic Music
label: Normal
country: Germany
date: probably 2000
Incredibly great and obscure tracks by the likes of Erkin Koray, Hur-El, Confusions and much more.
zoey
"Wild Horses" in my ears, "Kumbuya" in my heart
I love all things vintage, and if I'm not shopping, I'm finding new ways to make old things cool in my house.
Take, for instance, the silver peace pendant on a black cord I've had since high school ... I just found a new spot for it on the corner of a mirror. When I hung it, I remembered a moment from my past -- I was in Boston with friends, attending a performance at the Berklee School of Music. I had a great green dress on, and as an after-thought, I'd thrown my peace sign on.
One friend noticed it and said, "Haven't seen a peace necklace in a while ... it's kinda five years ago, no?"
I, however, don't think peace, nor the sign, ever goes out of style, but I'll nix 'form over function' and the debates thereon the next time I'm on the I-91. No worries.
OK...my mini-theme (to quote our dear hotash) for the day is Peace Pals :) Here's a Fresh Foto that appeared in the pool less than 10 minutes ago...it's from Tiny Dancer Em. You've seen her Peace Pix...sometimes in braids, sometimes with pictures of teeth on her Tshirt (still wondering about that one Em...) and sometimes as a Litle Peace Girl on Halloween, tripping over her Peace Beads :) She dances too...with Peace Sign Fingers! Now THAT'S coordination!!!
This one's for Em...it's a Dallas, TX picture...and we ARE one world! For goodness sake, let's try to make it Peaceful!
z
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