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I, too, am a teacher. In my undergraduate classes, I always feel as though I am trying to strike a balance – if I am too soft, then students do not complete their assigned tasks or do as well; if I am too tough, I start to feel like a guard in the SPE. One can never go too far in one direction or the other, else we risk getting out of balance. One thing we learn from the SPE is that we need oversight from many different persons with different points of view. It was only when ‘outsiders’ came and had a look at what was going on at Stanford, that Phil Zimbardo realized that he had gone too far and that he needed to stop the experiment. These are two good lessons we can learn form the SPE: always be seeking balance, and always seek out and value different – even opposing – points of view.
I have a very strong sense that narcissism and egoism are increasing. Much research into narcissism also shows that narcissism is more prevalent in some cultures – no surprise that the culture that produces the most narcissists is modern, western, culture – and that narcissistic personality disorder (the most extreme form of narcissism) has been rising steadily in recent years. I see this in my own life as well, in terms of how certain people close to me have treated me, which has been personally very painful.
Thank you, everyone, for your comments. This course and your comments have helped me to better understand our nature and purpose, and two desire to take the next steps to fulfill this.
This lesson really helped me to start to see evil differently. I can also leave much up to the Creator, and let nature work through me. Sometimes, less effort is more productive.
I want to love others, and feel a close connection to them, and want to give to them and fulfill their needs. I have a hard time, though, with the existence of evil. Evil, and those who harm others, seem to trap one further in egoism, and continuing ruminations. I have a strong desire to control these thoughts, and to begin to think differently about evil and wrongdoing. It must all, somehow, serve some purpose.
