Ted Talk Discussion: The Psychology of Evil 1. What, according to Zimbardo, is the "Lucifer Effect"? How does it influence your understanding of evil? 2. What connections do you see between Zimbardo's research and Milgram's? How does Zimbardo go beyond Milgram's findings? 3. What was the setup of the Prison Study? How would you have reacted that morning of the first day had you been assigned the role of prisoner? How would you have reacted over time? 4. Which of the social processes that Zimbardo identifies as key to greasing the slippery slope to "evil" do you think would most powerfully impact you (and perhaps prompt you into committing unconscionable acts)? 5. Which systemic aspects of major institutions concern you most? Feel free to consider prisons, mental institutions, military agencies, schools and universities, government bodies, etc. Ted Talk Discussion: The Psychology of Evil 6. Write 5­7 sentences answering one of the two prompts: A. Have you ever been in a situation in which you went along with the crowd? Conversely, have you ever had the opportunity to stand up for what you believed was right? How did that go? B. Think back to when we read Night by Elie Wiesel. Which group of people went along with the crowd? Do you believe this group could have stood up for what was right? Why or why not? Would we still be learning about such horrific events from history today?