Ideas change everything

The psychology of evil

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Philip Zimbardo |

TED2008

• February 2008

Philip Zimbardo knows how easy it is for nice people to turn bad. In this talk, he shares insights and graphic unseen photos from the Abu Ghraib trials. Then he talks about the flip side: how easy it is to be a hero, and how we can rise to the challenge.

Philip Zimbardo knows how easy it is for nice people to turn bad. In this talk, he shares insights and graphic unseen photos from the Abu Ghraib trials. Then he talks about the flip side: how easy it is to be a hero, and how we can rise to the challenge.

This talk was presented at an official TED conference.

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About the speaker

Philip Zimbardo

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Philip Zimbardo was the leader of the notorious 1971 Stanford Prison Experiment — and an expert witness at Abu Ghraib. His groundbreaking work in the field of psychology explored the nature of evil, heroism and more.

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Inside Philip Zimbardo's Stanford Prison Experiment

Get a closer look at the controversial 1970s psychology experiment that demonstrated just how capable of evil ordinary people are. From BBC Radio 4.

This talk was presented at an official TED conference.

Read our curation guidelines.