[Opinion] Beauty and the Beast

There was an experiment where person B had to apply an electric shock on person A if that person answered a question incorrectly. The more questions that A continued to answer wrong, the stronger the electric shock became. Person A screamed and pleaded for B to stop. However, though agonizing over the situation, B continued to follow the rules of the experiment. Of the experiment participants who played the role of person B, 65 percent raised the electric switch to the highest level, following the manual. This experiment, held by Yale University of the U.S. 40 years ago, is the most classic example showing that an ordinary person can inflict pain on others on the grounds of following orders.

“I posed for the camera as my superior officer had ordered,” said Army Pfc Lynndie England, an inflictor of sexual torture appearing in the photographs of Iraqi prisoner abuses that have shocked the world, in an interview with a U.S. local media company. The 20-year-old female, who is known to have never hurt even a puppy, said, “I think such behaviors can occur in times of war.” Her words are an echo of Adolf Eichmann, who killed millions of civilians under the German Nazi rule but claimed, “I only followed orders” without guilt or Lieutenant William Calley who said the same thing after deliberately slaughtering villagers of My Lai during the Vietnam War.

There is another experiment showing how kind people in daily lives are capable of cruel acts. At Stanford University in 1971, when experiment participants were divided into “prison guards” and “prisoners,” the “prison guards” displayed brutal behaviors such as stripping the “prisoners” and sexually insulting them, as if they were in a “real” situation. This is similar to the behavior displayed in Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. In a society where there is a clear distinction between the weak and the strong, the superior and lower ranks, without control and supervision, it is easy for the strong to abuse their power.

In fairy tales, there is a clear division between the “beauties” and the “beasts.” However, it is not so in reality. There are “beasts” among the “beauties.” Under certain conditions, savage natures are prone to surface. Nonetheless, it is not wise to put the blame on situations alone, for no one will take responsibility. Ordinary people turn into “beasts” because of orders, hoping to be praised, influenced by a sense of duty to save their nation. However, it is leadership that has made the situation and humans into such a state. Everybody wants to live life as a good person. It is the role of the leader to build a society in which people can live without displaying their savage instincts. It is up to the luck of the society’s members if they will be able to meet such a leader.

Editorial Writer Kim Sun-duk, yuri@donga.com