They are part of the national fabric that holds our country together. They contribute to America in many ways, and deserve the same respect as any of us. I pledge to spread this message, and affirm our country’s principles of liberty and justice for all.
The Milgram Experiment: Fighting Islamophobia by Changing our Cultural Context
Posted by Anni on Tuesday, February 28th, 2012
Image source: Saltydroid.info
Radio Lab is my favorite show on the radio. It’s hosted by two curious, science-minded reporters, Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich, who pick apart some of the biggest questions—not just of humanity and human nature but of the nature of the universe. I highly recommend it. On a recent show, the topic was badness: what makes people bad, and why good people do bad things. In one segment they discussed the 1963 experiment of Yale psychologist Stanley Milgram, the man famous for illustrating how far a person will go to follow orders. Or, at least, that’s long been how the experiments were interpreted. As you’ll see, there’s a twist.
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Fueling Empathy: An Emotional Education for Change
Posted by Anni on Monday, February 27th, 2012
Image source: Theeuropean-magazine.com
After 9-11 it was like the whole country was that hot-headed war-mongering guy in the movie who won’t listen to reason. He just wants to attack, to drop the bombs, to let his violence consume every other part of him because that’s justice. The thing I remember most about those days after the towers fell is feeling fear and resentment and intense shame. An eye-for-an-eye leaves everyone blind, I thought. I guess it is harder to fight when you can’t see your enemy. In that sense it’s an okay strategy—I mean, when we’re all eye-less and country-less we won’t be so worried about hating each other because we’ll be stumbling around in the dark. Then we’ll be worried about the dark.
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