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Lies govern the world, and lies about ourselves govern our psychology. The study of psychology always seemed so important to me, and decades after my first immersion in the subject I come away with nothing but awe for the psychologist. That is not to say that I am generally pleased with the current state of our “knowledge” of psychology. I am not, and the reason for this should be fairly obvious: our lies about ourselves – as individuals and as members of a large group (or “tribe”) – still do dominate any kind of discourse we have. “It’s a tough sell,” Philip Zimbardo argues. And indeed it is. We are all capable of vicious and cruel acts and behavior. We are all potential killers and rapists. We are sadistic and deceitful maniacs. If you ask people what traits make them stand out from the crowd, they are likely to tell you that they are “nice” and “above average in intelligence.” In fact, nearly everyone will tell you this – even though it is impossible for everyone to be nice and intelligent. So, Zimbardo has a big task ahead of him, and we can understand why he admits that it is a “tough sell.” As Sigmund Freud admitted in Civilization and Its Discontents, the veneer of civilization is very thin indeed, and it can be removed quickly, very quickly and suddenly. The psychology of the individual is interesting; the psychology of the group (or crowd) is fascinating; and the psychological underpinnings of our social organizations or “institutions” is both fascinating and of paramount importance. This is how I think we should be viewing the human social animal. We are unique individuals, to be sure. But we are also inextricably tied to a group, a larger and very powerful group. I recently called up Philip Zimbardo to see if he might talk about his research and his latest book. He kindly agreed, and I do think that we covered a lot of ground in this vast domain of what we call social psychology. He has just published (in 2007) what is basically a compilation of his life’s research and thought regarding the human social animal. It is brilliant writing, and the book has got an elegant feel to it. Zimbardo, who is a professor emeritus of psychology at Stanford University, has put his heart and guts (sorry for the expression) into it. It is not, however, going to be pleasant reading. We are nasty and vicious creatures, but our PR is very impressive indeed...
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