Friday, April 29, 2016

Investigating Social Dynamics [2] Response

            This second section of social dynamics brought anonymity into play and how it affects our actions. Zimbardo writes about how our filters seem to dissipate when we don a mask to hide our true identities. This is apparent through the internet and the often toxic comment sections filled with anonymous people under arbitrary usernames. The freedom that anonymity brings allows for a person to no longer be held accountable for their actions. You can say and do whatever you want because at the end of the day it does not come back to haunt you. While this allows you to be honest and open, it also allows vile behavior which is bottled up inside of people.

            Another thing discussed was how dehumanization plays a major role in the mistreatment of others. From day to day, you wouldn’t care if you killed a fly but if you killed a human it would be a different story. The act of dehumanization justifies terrible actions in the mind of the attacker. I found it interesting how changing your mindset can allow for a person to kill many people because he or she thinks of them as a lesser being. This also speaks on how we as humans interact with the animals around us. We should get to a place where even if we think another human to be an animal, we still treat them with a certain level of respect. 

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