We like to think of ourselves as good people. When we see or hear about injustices, most of us think we would do the right thing whether it would be defying authority in order to help people or by demonstrating courage under challenging circumstances.

And yet, studies and history reveal that we often do nothing, conform with brutality, or comply with authority. It appears that the line between doing good versus doing evil may be thinner than any of us would prefer to imagine. My guest, Dr. Philip Zimbardo has taught psychology at Stanford University for over 50 years and was the author and lead researcher of the internationally famous Stanford Prison Experiment. The results of the study, which is now a landmark in social psychology, suggest that otherwise psychologically healthy people can behave badly under the right circumstances.

Dr. Zimbardo has done deep research into the evil humans can perform and, more recently, he has done a 180 and become an important voice in studying its opposite: heroism. His Heroic Imagination Project (www.heroicimagination.org) uses scientific research to teach us to harness our abilities to act heroically and override any innate biases that might cause us to conform or to be bystanders rather than upstanders. The program has garnered tremendous praise and has been implemented into training programs at police departments, public schools, and other organizations.

So, listen in, as Dr. Zimbardo and I discuss the good and evil that humans are capable of doing and how to call upon our better selves under stress. Book link: https://amzn.to/45YYO69 This is an affiliate link. It will provide me with a small commission on purchases made through it and help the podcast (but it won’t affect the price you pay).