Here’s one insight I had while reading The Lucifer Effect. I believe that Zimbardo is absolutely right in revealing the tendency of systems to turn people close to any misdeeds into scapegoats, simultaneously shielding those higher up who share an equal, if not greater, amount of blame. Although Zimbardo spends much time in his book criticizing himself for the evil he created (and perpetuated) in the basement of Jordan Hall, I recently realized that even I harbored much more dislike for the guards than Zimbardo himself. I can’t help but think that perhaps Zimbardo himself has been shielded from some flak by the very phenomenon he identifies and condemns.

Is the world a better place because of Zimbardo and his famous experiment? What do you think? What do you think Zimbardo thinks?