Respond to one question in 100-150 words (indicate which question you are answering)
- You may have thought before this article, that being a prisoner is a physical fact, not a psychological state. What the differences between these two views? How did this play out in the Stanford Prison Experiment?
- Zimbardo suggests that we might “choose to remain prisoners because being passive and dependent frees us from the need to act and be responsible for our actions” (par. 62). Do you agree? What are the burdens of being disobedient?
- The narrator describes Turner’s dilemma this way: “It was madness to go to the man’s defense, it was loathsome not to.” And yet even Turner thinks himself capable of performing some outrage (with his bowie knife) on the RAF man. What forces at work in Turner make him—or anyone—capable of such potentially contrary actions?
4:34 pm - 1-25-2011
Sean Sikich Question 1
Being a prisoner can be both a physical and psychological state. It can be positive in a way such as being in prison or held captive against your will. However it can be psychological too due to stress and other factors. The Stanford Prison Experiment involved both types of “prison.” The students were considered physical prisoners because they were held in a prison in the basement of a Stanford building. They were psychological prisoners because they thought they were actually prisoners and were put under a lot of stress because of it. The student “guards” put more stress on them by coming completely taken over by the role of guard.
7:07 pm - 1-25-2011
Question 2
I agree with Zimbardo when he says that some people may choose to remain prisoners. There are a lot of people in the world that would rather take the backseat in a situation and let somebody else be the leader and make the decisions. Some do not like to have the responsibility, and sometimes stress, put on them. They would rather have it be put on someone other than themselves, and just go along for the ride. I think some burdens of being disobedient include always being on the lookout, or fear of getting caught if they disobey. Another burden could be feeling guilty about being disobedient.
12:06 am - 1-26-2011
Question 1
Before reading this article on the Stanford Prison Experiment, I assumed prison was more of a physical factor. When I pictured the physical state, I was thinking more along the lines of prisoners eating, sleeping, and doing labor. I didn’t think the prisoners would rebel against the guard’s rules by physically moving their beds against the cell door. Also, I did not imagine the guards making the prisoners move cartons back and forth between closets or picking thorns out of a blanket the guards dragged across thorny bushes the night before. When I read deeper into the article the guards and the prisons psychological state end up taking over the whole experiment. The guards took their role so serious that they humiliated the prisoners. After a concern amount of time, the psychological state of the prisoners became affected dramatically. One prisoner didn’t last 36 hours before extreme depression, disorganized thinking, uncontrollable crying, and fits of rage took over his psychological state of mind.
9:21 am - 1-26-2011
Question 2:
I do agree with Zimbardo’s statement that people might “choose to remain prisoners because being passive and dependent frees us from the need to act and be responsible for our actions.” I agree because many people would rather just be obedient and do what they are told. They would because, if they do, then they never have to make any potentially hard decisions for themselves or be responsible for any consequences those decisions might have. The burdens of being disobedient are that if one does choose to disobey, they will be taking a leader type stance, and go against what they are expected to do. This requires them to accept full responsibility for their actions and whatever happens because of those actions.
6:03 pm - 1-26-2011
Austin Keller-Question 2
Yes, I totally agree with Zimbardos statement. People would definitely want to remain prisoners due to the fact that they do not have to deal with the stress or negative outcomes of situations. People would much rather just sit and do what they are told and not have to worry about anything else. When a person makes a action there is always a outcome to that action and I feel that people would rather not have the ability to make wrong actions and have to accept further responsibility. In my views I feel the burdens of being disobedient are, people not taking responsibility for their actions and the factor of what the outcome may be if they do not ethical decisions.
6:57 pm - 1-26-2011
Question 2:
I agree with Zimbardo’s statement that we “choose to remain prisoners because being passive and dependent frees us from the need to act and be responsible for our actions”. I agree with this because it is much easier to be accepted and do what everyone else is doing than to be looked at as different for being disobedient. Being disobedient would lead to bigger consequences at times than most people would like to have to deal with. It is also easier to have choices made for you, rather than to have to make tough decisions and be on your own with them because you were disobedient one time.
7:36 pm - 1-26-2011
Question 2
I agree with Zimbardo’s statement that we may “choose to remain prisoners because being passive and dependent frees us from the need to ace and be responsible for our actions” because I feel it occurs today. Many people just go with what other people say so that they are not singled out or have to worry about what other people say. Though it is the easy way out people see it as being easier for someone to take care of them and not have burden of peer pressure upon them. That way if something goes wrong they are not the only ones to blame and they are not alone taking the easy way out. Some burdens of being disobedient are a guilty conscience and consequences.
8:36 pm - 1-26-2011
Question 2
I had always thought that being a prisoner was mostly a physical state. I knew that they endeared some form of psychological stress because of missing their families and loss of their daily lives, but after reading The Stanford Prison Experiment I saw that it was much more than that. The physical fact of being in prison would be there just to serve time obey the guards and get out as soon as possible. A Psychological state is not being able to handle the harsh conditions of prison such as confinement. Even though the participants knew about the experiment being a text, they went through a rage mental states like a real prisoner would, if not then worse. Their psychological states were savage and or depressed. The reason for these sates might have been due to the fact they knew they were not criminals and they felt like they did not need to obey, therefore causing mental problems.
10:23 pm - 1-26-2011
Question 1
Well before this article I have had quite a bit of knowledge on the prison world due to my father being a prison guard actually and not only being a prisoner is a physical fact because of how much freedom they have, the bed they sleep on at night, and food they eat. But being a prisoner is a psychological state to because they are in there for so long and they don’t want no one to tell them what to do and what choices they have giving by the guards. Being a prisoner is psychological state because they like to play mind games with the guards and in the Stanford Prison Experiment you have to take your job as a guard and play mind games such as talking trash back the prisoners to because if they get in your head by the things they say they will have control over you, then they would make your job harder than it should be. The student guards had to take on the stress of thinking that they were prisoners too.
12:14 am - 1-27-2011
question 2-
I believe that what Zimbardo is saying is true. Many of us do choose to remain prisoners because it is simply easier to do so. Being disobedient, going against society, and truly freeing yourself is a hard thing to do. I have heard the argument that in America, we are not truly free, but slaves to a system. The system has us go to school, get a job, and obey the laws. To be truly free one would need to step outside of the system. However, this is much easier said than done. Without a job there is no money, therefore no food or shelter, and if one gets caught breaking the rules they are sent to jail. It would be hard to disobey and be free, but nearly all of us still chose to obey and remain prisoners.
1:24 am - 1-27-2011
It is true before I read the article I though being a prisoner was all about a physical thing. Like physically being locked in a cold and dark jail cell with a little hanging bed all alone but it is also very much a psychological thing. Mentally you can also be in “prison”. It is definitely not physical so the affects are different but it is true you can be a psychological prisoner. The difference is if you are a prisoner you are literally in a jail cell just sitting around only getting out for a limited amount of time a day. While if you are a psychological prisoner you are lock up in your mind, you are to yourself in thoughts. This played a role in the Stanford experiment because people were literally put into jail cells but technically they did nothing wrong they did this on their own to be in an experiment so mentally they were locked up because they did nothing wrong yet they were in jail and suffering many different negative situations.
2:37 am - 1-27-2011
Question 2 – Jeff Fenster
I agree with Zimbardo when he suggests that we might want to remain prisoners. This is because when you are a prisoner, there is very little to no stress. You have essentially no responsibility and you sit back and relax all day every day. People like not having the stress of everyday life. Some of the burdens of being disobedient is the knowing that at some point, there will be something that happens to you. Also, when you have to face the consequences of your disobedience, there is a lot of stress which is created. This is why people tend to avoid being disobedient and generally obey authority.
11:29 am - 1-27-2011
2- In some situations it is true that people act as if they were prisoners, however, there are several cases in history that prove when people or tried of bring opposed by authority, they will rebel despite the consequences. We choose to just fellow the people in power because we don’t want to show disrespect or sever the punishment, but when enlightenment happens, for example, any movement or revolution in history, it is powerful and can cause change to happen be more freedom is gained. I don’t believe people act like prisoners, I believe they choose what they obey, who they think is in authority and when to obey that authority.
11:44 am - 1-27-2011
Question 1
Being a prisoner is both psychological and physical. They both have hard effects on a person. The physical side can be rough. They eat sleep and sometimes work. The guards put them to work. Not only do the guards want to play games with the prisoners, but the guards are also messing with the prisoners minds. This is the psychological side for the prisoners. Being a prisoner takes a hard toll on a persons mind. The guards go even farther than what their job actually entitles. They want full control over the prisoners.
11:46 am - 1-27-2011
Question – 2
I agree with Zimbardo when he suggests that prisoners want to remain prisoners. I n jail there is no stress of everyday life. You don’t have to worry about money or taxes. You get 3 meals a day and there are normal sleep times and everything is just laid back and relaxed. Its nice to not have stress people prefer this to anything else. One of the burdens of being disobedient is knowing that at some point it is going to bite you back. That eventually you are going to get caught. It is one of the most stressful things you can do. You question everyone’s motives and soon you will alienate yourself. This is why people are more willing to obey authority.
11:58 am - 1-27-2011
2) I agree with this statement, because I believe that is how some people see things. For example, when you are a very passive person you do not act as expected. I think that some people find this easier, than dealing with whatever they have to in life. Regardless if that is facing responsibility for their actions, showing emotion in certain situations, or even just caring about other situations. It is kind of an easy way out, like some people would just rather not care, or act like they do not care so they do not have to take responsibility for their actions. It’s an easy way out of a situation. The burdens of being disobedient, would be, having other people look down on you for your ways, being treated differently, giving yourself a bad reputation. When you are disobedient, for example, if you’re a prisoner who just continues to make their way back to prison after being freed, it can only have a negative effect. This can affect you emotionally and physically. Most people have a sense of obedience and disobedience, but there are a few that just have no regard for it.
12:02 pm - 1-27-2011
Question #2
I agree with Zimbardo when he suggests that we might “choose to remain prisoners because being passive and dependent frees us from the need to act and be responsible for our actions” I think that there are many people in the world who don’t stand up and take action when it’s necessary and instead wait for others to take the lead. They might view it as being the easier option, or maybe they are simply scared of being responsible for anything other than themselves. I think some burdens of disobedience are the fear and stigma of going against the “norm”, and the emotional stress it could cause. Another burden of disobedience is the possible negative consequences that could result from one’s disobedient actions.
12:13 pm - 1-27-2011
Question #2
Aaron KLine
I agree with Zimbardo when he suggests that we might “choose to remain prisoners because being passive and dependent frees us from the need to act and be responsible for our actions”. The reason that I think this is because I think that people would rather feel controled then have to do things on there own. I think this is why people would not get jobs and stay on welfare, its not because they are not able to work, it is because why wourk when you can get your money by doing nothing. When in prison, yes it may not be the nicest place to be, but they feed you, cloth you, and evne get little jobs for you. You dont have any responsibility. There are burdons of being disobiedent, which is punishment, but with some punishment, comes its rewards.
12:55 pm - 1-27-2011
#1
In the Standford Prison Experiment students took on roles of being a guard and prisoner. The physical props were used to lock the “prisoners” up while the guards would humiliate them. While the psychological state is the thought of being helpless from the insults and mind games the guards would play with the Guard. By stripping them down, locking them in a solitary room, and starving them all puts a huge burden on the mind. When the prisoners would write home they used their prisons ID number rather than there actually names.