Social Scientist Philip Zimbardo: Factors Other Than Character Determine Behavior [TED Talk]

Social Scientist Philip Zimbardo: Factors Other Than Character Determine Behavior [TED Talk]

As a child growing up in a tough neighborhood in the South Bronx (an inner city ghetto of New York), social psychologist Philip Zimbardo learned at an early age that the line between good and evil (which privileged people like to think is fixed and impermeable – with them on the good side and others on the bad side); I knew that line was movable and permeable.” In this TED video [23 minutes] Zimbardo presents three factors which can determine the likelihood of evil acts from healthy, normal well-intentioned people: Bad Apples, A Bad Barrel Or Bad Barrel-Makers? The 3 factors influencing the transformation of human character towards evil can be summarized as: • Dispositional: Inside the person. This is the factor most often considered by culture, religions and government as the cause of behavior. • Situational: Outside the person. This is the factor pointing to the influence of a person’s immediate surroundings, typically one in which a person’s normal, habitual behavior is not possible. • Systemic: The power structure that creates and sustains the situation. Since the inquisition we’ve been dealing with problems at the level of the individual and it doesn’t work.” He recommends a paradigm shift of focus away from the medical model which focuses only on the individual, towards a public health model that recognizes situational and systemic vectors of disease.”   Promoting Heroism As The Antidote To Evil Zimbardo suggests the following: • Promote the heroic imagination of kids in our educational system. We want kids to think, ‘I’m a hero in waiting,’ waiting for the right situation to come along to act heroically.” • Motivate people to...
Crash Course In The 3 Interconnected E’s: Economy, Energy, Environment

Crash Course In The 3 Interconnected E’s: Economy, Energy, Environment

The future is going to be about moving from an ‘I’ to a ‘we’ culture … back to a bygone era, where neighbors weren’t just nice to each other, but relied on each other. As an informed person, it is now your responsibility to help others as best you can.” Chris Martensen, PhD, a post-doctorate neurotoxicologist-turned-economist, presents a 45 minute Crash Course on the economic crisis & describes the changes humanity faces. In the course, Martenson presents an analysis of economy, energy, and the environment (the 3 E’s, as he calls them) and the ways in which they are interlinked. He specifically outlines a “substantial mismatch between an economic model that must grow and a physical world of peaking oil and depleting resources,” and explains why the problems presented cannot be solved individually, but only by macro-cultural change. What Role Do You Want To Play? … in this dramatic turning point in our species’ history? Shall your life be filled with fear or a resolute sense of purpose? The only way these challenges can become insurmountable is if we let them, by ignoring them for too long.” –Chris Martensen introducing his Crash Course The 3 Interconnected E’s & The Problems They Pose Economy: …the banking system must continually expand – not necessarily because it is the right (or wrong) thing to do, but, rather, simply because that is how it was designed …the extremely wealthy are saving incredible amounts of money, while at the lower ends the savings rate is deeply negative. Why is this important? Because as the Greek philosopher Plutarch once stated, ‘An imbalance between rich and poor...
Meaningful Labor Explained By Prof. Dan Ariely

Meaningful Labor Explained By Prof. Dan Ariely

Merriam-Webster dictionary defines “labor” as: a : expenditure of physical or mental effort especially when difficult or compulsory. b (1) :human activity that provides the goods or services in an economy (2) : the services performed by workers for wages as distinguished from those rendered by entrepreneurs for profits.” But, says Prof. of Behavioral Economics, Dan Ariely, On an intuitive level most of us understand the deep interconnection between identity and labor… ‘What do you do?’ has become as common a component of an introduction as the anachronistic ‘How do you do?’ once was—suggesting that our jobs are an integral part of our identity, not merely a way to make money…” Here is Ariely describing the psychology behind how we view labor: Like Rats In A Maze? As mentioned in a previous post, behavioral economics differs from standard economics because it doesn’t assume that people are strictly rational. Ariely describes this difference in the perception of labor: … the basic economic model of labor generally treats working men and women as rats in a maze… all the rat (person) wants to do is to get to the food with as little effort as possible. But if work also gives us meaning, what does this tell us about why people want to work?” Blogging As An Example In his book, The Upside of Irrationality: The Unexpected Benefits of Defying Logic at Work and at Home, Ariely looks into what motivates so many people to write blogs: … blogs have two features that distinguish them from other forms of writing.  First, they provide the hope or the illusion that someone else will read one’s...
Malcolm Gladwell Explains Why Human Potential Is Being Squandered [PopTech Video]

Malcolm Gladwell Explains Why Human Potential Is Being Squandered [PopTech Video]

Sociologist and best-selling author, Malcolm Gladwell, uses the term “Capitalization” to discuss the abundance and scarcity as it applies to people.” More specifically, Gladwell sees “capitalization” as “the rate at which a given community capitalizes on the human potential… what percentage of those who are capable of achieving something actually achieve it.” Gladwell’s most recent book, Outliers: The Story of Success, investigates human potential, how it is squandered, how that trend can be reversed, and the reasons why some succeed so much more then others. Through his research Gladwell discovered that, Cap rates are really low. They are much lower then you think they are and that’s why I think this is such a worthy topic for investigation.” Here is a clip with highlights from Gladwell’s talk at Pop Tech on this issue [11 min.]: 3 Conditions Which Constrain The Capitalization Of Human Potential 1. Poverty. … is the obvious thing that limits the exploitation of human potential.” 2. Stupidity. … where institutions get in the way of the development of human potential.” 3. Culture. When we look at these different rates of capitalization, 20 and 30 years later, what we’re seeing is the consequence of those early ingrained cultural notions…” Why Is This Important? It is important because I think when we observe differences in how individuals succeed in the world our initial thought is always to say, to argue that that is the result of some kind of innate difference in ability. And when we look at the different rates that groups succeed we think that that reflects some underlying innate trait in the characteristics of that...
The Recipe For A Better World: 21 Billion Hours Of Online Gaming Per Week [TED Talk]

The Recipe For A Better World: 21 Billion Hours Of Online Gaming Per Week [TED Talk]

If we want to solve problems like hunger, poverty, climate change, global hunger, and obesity, I believe that we need to aspire to play games online for at least 21 billion hours a week by the end of the next decade.” Jane Mcgonigal, Ph.D., a game designer, has been making online games for over ten years, and she has a plan. Her goal for the next decade is to make it as easy to save the world in real life, as it is in online games. Right now, we spend 3 billion hours a week playing online games, she says. But according to McGonigal’s research at The Institute for the Future, that’s not nearly enough to solve the world’s most urgent problems, because gamers are a human resource that we can use to do real world work” and “games are a powerful platform for change.” When I look forward to the next decade” she shares, “I know two things for sure: that we can make any future we can imagine, and we can play any games we want. So I say, let the world changing games begin.” Watch Jane McGonigal’s Ted talk [20 min.] about how gaming can make a better world: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dE1DuBesGYM Why Are Games So Essential To The Future Of Humanity? The first thing gamers get good at according to McGonigal is “urgent optimism,” extreme self motivation, the desire to act immediately to tackle an obstacle, combined with a belief that we have a reasonable hope of a success. Secondly, gamers are virtuosos at “weaving a tight social fabric.” “It takes a lot of trust to play a...