Good and Evil are Choices, and Not states of Being (pg.19)

There was a famous scientific experiment done in 1963 by Stanley Milgram:

Test persons came after an advertisement: "Join a memory experiment, one hour for 4 dollars". It was explained that the people were the "Master" of the experiment, and the "real" test person was in another room, connected to electroshock equipment. The research was to verify if people learn better when being punished. Whenever the other gave a wrong answer to a question, the Master should push a button to give a shock. To clarify what the other person was undergoing, the Master was given a very unpleasant shock of 45 volts. Every time when the other person would answer wrongly, shock must be given, 15 Volts higher than the previous one, from 15 to 450 Volts. The other person could be heard, and would be screaming and banging the walls at shocks over 300 volts. At the highest voltages, the other could not be heard anymore.

The crux of the experiment: the "other person" in the room next door was an actor, not receiving any shocks at all, the real test persons were the masters giving the shocks and the experiment was about how far they would be prepared to go.

The truly shocking thing about this experiment was that two-thirds of the test persons would continue (though often sweating and nervous) after some simple assurances from the test leader that they should continue in order to make the test work, until the maximum shock of 450 Volts was given. This means that as much as two-thirds of people are potential torturers who merely need a little encouragement and 4 dollars per hour! The experiment did not clarify if people are really evil, or just easily convinced by a man in a white coat, but it does make one think.

My Analysis of Stanley Milgram’s 1963 Experiment:

Reflecting upon this experiment helped me to answer some fundamental inquiries of the proclivity the role and concept of good and evil have on people’s lives. My argument for this brief analysis is that people can never be completely good or completely evil at any given point in time. As in people are only good or evil at that time for the good or evil choices they make, and to what extent those choices make on the world around them as well as they themselves as a person. I come from the school of thought that understands that people can only be more of one or the other.

My understanding is that any given person must make a choice each time. People have an ongoing choice to do good or do evil. Of course, the good deeds of either saving a person’s life and picking up a piece of trash and throwing it away could hardly be considered as equally good deeds. Likewise, the evil deeds of either punching someone in the face and killing a person can also hardly be considered as equally evil deeds. I do not argue that, I argue that based on the good or evil choices a person makes and to what extent it affects the world around them, is what dictates whether or not they are good or evil at that time. And that good or evil people are only good or evil because of their last major choice to do good or evil, as well as their continuation of their choice to continue to do good or to do evil.

If a person has a tendency to make good choices, then that person will have a tendency to choose and subsequently make a good choice. However, on the other hand, if a person has a tendency to make evil choices, then that person will also have a tendency to choose and subsequently make an evil choice. Either way, they choose to do one of the other, to make good or evil choices.

There are other major variables to consider. Variables such as time. Most people tend to measure how good or evil a person is based on what kind of choices they choose to make, and how quickly or how slowly they tend to make them. Referencing the above experiment, it can be concluded that the people who felt more compassion towards the screaming person on the other side of the wall, had a tendency to choose to withdraw from the experiment early on. It can also be concluded that the greedy torturous people had a tendency to see the experiment to its conclusion despite the agony they were causing the other person.

In either case, both the people who quit and who continued had the choice to do the other at anytime. But due to their tendencies, as in whether or not they tend to make good or evil choices, played a major role in the extent of their compassion or their greed. This illustrates my point that irregardless of whether or not they chose to continue or stop, it was an ongoing choice. Good or Evil is an ongoing choice.

At any given point of time, Mussolini could have chose to put an end to his ambitions yet he made the ongoing choice not to do so, thus continued to do evil. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. could have also put an end to his dream, yet he made the ongoing choice to do good. Both cases are prime examples that people can choose to continue or end doing good or evil. But cannot indefinitely choose to “be” good or evil.

Another major variable to consider is information. People tend to make decisions based on the information that is available. When people choose between either Burger King or McDonalds. Depending on their prior experience with one or the other and/or both. As well as the extent of their prior experience, plays a major role in where they will eat, Burger King or McDonalds.

For any given decision that a person chooses to make, the information available plays a substantial factor in their decision making process. In relation to the experiment, the people who made the good compassionate choice had the information that despite the 4 dollars an hour. It was not worth continuing due to the suffering that was being caused to the person on the other side of the wall. On the other hand, the people who made a evil greedy choice had the information that despite the misery being caused to the other person. The 4 dollars an hour was worth someone else’s suffering.

Therefore, based on the information presented above. It would certainly appear that people cannot be defined as completely good or evil. That making good or evil choices is an ongoing choice, and is not a constant in any sense of the word. A devil continues to make the choice of being a devil. And an angel continues to make the choice of being an angel. Depending on their choice, and the extent that choice makes on the world around them as well as the effect it has on them as a person. For better or worse, plays the deciding factor in their goodness or evilness at that time.