Das experiment!(2rd edition)

Do you think the German soldiers who fought in World War II and killed a lot of Jewish people were really cruel and sadistic? Do you think that a person can be either a devil, or an angel, and that they decide how to act based on personal character and their predispostion? If then, see 'Das experiment'.

In this movie, nineteen volunteers participated in an experimental prison simulation . They were randomly selected to be either a guard or a prisoner. The experimenter made them take on their roles. For example, a guard would command, and give prisoners some restrictions to control them with the exception of physical violence. On the other hand, prisoners had to follow the guard's commands.

At the first, they were familiar with opposite role. Moreover, sometimes they played each other. However, few hours later, guards began to be changed violently, and repressed prisoners. And the people who played prisoner roles became powerlessness. Only one people who is a hero in the movie resisted. Finally, they fought terribly, and many people were killed by the people who played an opposite role. The experiment ended in a tragedy.

Do you think it is just a movie? Never!! This movie is based on real experiment that was conducted by Zimbardo, one of the famous social psychologist, in 1971. Serious psychological problem is caused to most of prisoners by this experiment, although there was no murder like this movie. The guards made prisoners clean toilet by their bare-hands, mattresses were removed in bad prisoners's room and even did not give any food for punishment. The behavior or punishments that were conducted by guards were very similar with guards who work in real prison. Surprisingly, they had not gone to a real jail, and they did not know any information of the real prison. At first, Zimbardo planned two weeks for this experiment. But six days later, he had to stop this experiment.

So what? The people who played guards were real devils? or sadists? like the German soldiers who killed millions of Jewish people? I don't think so. There were some tests that decide the participants whether they are normal or not before the experiment. Absolutely, all of them were confirmed as normal people. The answer is our behavior and our character is decided by not only dispositional causes, but also situational causes like social roles, rules, cultures so on. For example, character and behavior of mark who is our great teacher is made by not only Mark himself, but also his job-teacher, his nation-Canada, and his partner-us. In conclusion, you should pay attention to not only yourself, but also your situations, to understand your behavior, thought, and character fully.