Philip Zimbardo – Old Sock Drawer

Currently listening to: “Somebody to Love” – GLEE Cast

After a few weeks of intense geeking-out, finally, finally!, the Zimbardo lecture! Entitled “A Journey from Evil to Heroism”, it started off with a brief run-down about his Stanford Prison Experiment (SPE) and its relevant societal implications. Following the grim discussion of systemic evil, he took on a more optimistic tone, speaking of the absolute necessity of encouraging everyday heroism as a bulwark against the human potential for cruelty. I must say I’m amazed and inspired – despite (or perhaps, as a result of) his first-hand experience of experimental subjects travelling down the slippery slope into depravity, his unwavering conviction in the equally powerful potential for positive action is commendable. An absolutely splendid lecture, not a single wasted word.

And I got my book signed! He seems so incredibly approachable and amiable (:
Signed book!

I’ve been blogging quite a bit lately, so you can expect an entry coming up soon about the social enterpreneurship conference which I just attended. Till then, Medieval French Lit demands my attention, the cheeky blighter…

#072: Geekery!!!

Currently listening to: “Ordinary Day” – Great Big Sea

This is what’s up.

November 20, 2009 – Philip Zimbardo at UBC!!!!!!!!

Cue excited arm-flailing, incoherent exclamation allsorts, unsuspecting roommates being biffed over the head with copies of his book, et cetera. You might know him as the man behind the Stanford Prison Experiment, and the narrator of the educational television series, Discovering Psychology. For the record, I’m only mildly obsessed with his book, The Lucifer Effect – an absolutely brilliant discussion of his experiment, accompanied by an almost-philosophical musing upon the goodness and evil humans have a capacity for. All in all, a rather fascinating, albeit disconcerting read.

…and that is my book update for the moment; I’ve been falling behind on my literary recommendations, mea culpa. But really, would anyone listen if I tossed out recommendations for books on the World Bank and IMF?