Heroism as the antidote to evil

Warning: this content is older than 365 days. It may be out of date and no longer relevant.

“When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle.” – Edmund Burke

Go read this story on CNN about a two and a half hour rape of a 15 year old at a San Francisco high school function as nearly two dozen people stood around did nothing, or worse, joined in. No one called 911. No one got help. Very reminiscent of the Kitty Genovese case and the bystander effect.

How do you stop something like this?

How do you counteract something like this?

How do you prevent something like this from ever happening in the first place?

Philip Zimbardo, of the Stanford Prison Experiment, has an elegant solution. The problem is the diffusion of responsibility. When a group of people are involved, no one person feels responsible. Only someone who steps forward, someone willing to take risks of social and physical violence, someone willing to bear the burden of breaking a conforming mindset can stop this.

In short, a hero.

Watch this TED talk featuring this discussion:

Dr. Zimbardo’s idea of hero courses is a good one, but probably won’t come to a school, church, or workplace near you any time soon. So how do you get started on this today? His idea of heroic imagination has deep, deep roots, stretching back over thousands of years, across multiple continents. At Stephen K. Hayes’ Evocation seminar, one of the exercises done by participants was a detailed exploration of what our inner superhero looks like, sounds like, and acts like. While it’s impossible to recreate even a fraction of that seminar in the bits and bytes of a blog post, I’ll leave you with a question you can ponder, one that will get you that first step down the path towards finding your own superhero.

Instead of thinking about superhero powers, think about superhero actions.

If you had all the superhero powers you wanted and needed, what would you as a hero stand for, and what in all of the world would you first fight against?

That single question will tell you not the kind of superhero that exists in your daydreams, but the one that exists inside of you right now.

What do you stand for?
What do you stand against?

Think about that as you ponder the San Francisco rape, the Kitty Genovese bystander effect, and Dr. Zimbardo’s lecture. That will be the first step towards awakening your superhero and the superheroes of all those around you.

Do it soon. Do it now. Right now, more than ever, our world needs as many heroes as it can get – including you.


Did you enjoy this blog post? If so, please subscribe right now!

Heroism as the antidote to evil 1 Heroism as the antidote to evil 2 Heroism as the antidote to evil 3

Enjoyed it? Please share it!

| More


Get this and other great articles from the source at www.ChristopherSPenn.com


Comments

10 responses to “Heroism as the antidote to evil”

  1. joemueller Avatar
    joemueller

    Christopher,
    Thanks for adding the link on the TED talk. As I watched it and read your post, another important concept came to mind: Don't confuse “hero” with “martyr.” Many times people go into situations intending to be the hero. The ego and romance of the situation can lead them to end up being a martyr. This reminds me of the movie, “Braveheart.” William Wallace wanted to return to Scotland to farm and raise a family, but he followed his heart to be a hero and lead others to freedom. He lost his life in the struggle.
    “Should I expose corruption in my work place, get fired, and lose my health insurance for my family?” That's a question from someone going down the martyr path.
    “How can I expose the corruption in my work place, not get fired, and keep my health insurance for my family?” That's a question from someone on the path to being a hero.

  2. joemueller Avatar
    joemueller

    Christopher,
    Thanks for adding the link on the TED talk. As I watched it and read your post, another important concept came to mind: Don't confuse “hero” with “martyr.” Many times people go into situations intending to be the hero. The ego and romance of the situation can lead them to end up being a martyr. This reminds me of the movie, “Braveheart.” William Wallace wanted to return to Scotland to farm and raise a family, but he followed his heart to be a hero and lead others to freedom. He lost his life in the struggle.
    “Should I expose corruption in my work place, get fired, and lose my health insurance for my family?” That's a question from someone going down the martyr path.
    “How can I expose the corruption in my work place, not get fired, and keep my health insurance for my family?” That's a question from someone on the path to being a hero.

  3. mmcallen Avatar
    mmcallen

    Thanks for this post Chris very interesting and frankly makes me sick. This High School is located in one of the most dangerous parts of California called Richmond and is not in San Francisco. Though it is close to San Quinton Prison.

    Some quick stats pulled from Wikipedia—-

    Richmond is now the third most dangerous in California behind Compton and Oakland and 11th most dangerous nationally according to the Morgan Quitno rankings. For every 100,000 people there were 38.3 murders, 50.4 rapes, 485.8 robberies, 512 assaults, 1110.7 burglaries, 3497.4 counts of larceny and 2471.4 thefts of vehicles. Richmond had 42 murders in 2006; and the city experienced a record of 62 homicides in 1991. It has gotten worse in the past few years.

    We need more acting heroes here in Oakland and Richmond.

    m

  4. mmcallen Avatar
    mmcallen

    Thanks for this post Chris very interesting and frankly makes me sick. This High School is located in one of the most dangerous parts of California called Richmond and is not in San Francisco. Though it is close to San Quinton Prison.

    Some quick stats pulled from Wikipedia—-

    Richmond is now the third most dangerous in California behind Compton and Oakland and 11th most dangerous nationally according to the Morgan Quitno rankings. For every 100,000 people there were 38.3 murders, 50.4 rapes, 485.8 robberies, 512 assaults, 1110.7 burglaries, 3497.4 counts of larceny and 2471.4 thefts of vehicles. Richmond had 42 murders in 2006; and the city experienced a record of 62 homicides in 1991. It has gotten worse in the past few years.

    We need more acting heroes here in Oakland and Richmond.

    m

  5. mmcallen Avatar
    mmcallen

    Thanks for this post Chris very interesting and frankly makes me sick. This High School is located in one of the most dangerous parts of California called Richmond and is not in San Francisco. Though it is close to San Quinton Prison.

    Some quick stats pulled from Wikipedia—-

    Richmond is now the third most dangerous in California behind Compton and Oakland and 11th most dangerous nationally according to the Morgan Quitno rankings. For every 100,000 people there were 38.3 murders, 50.4 rapes, 485.8 robberies, 512 assaults, 1110.7 burglaries, 3497.4 counts of larceny and 2471.4 thefts of vehicles. Richmond had 42 murders in 2006; and the city experienced a record of 62 homicides in 1991. It has gotten worse in the past few years.

    We need more acting heroes here in Oakland and Richmond.

    m

  6. joemueller Avatar
    joemueller

    Christopher,
    Thanks for adding the link on the TED talk. As I watched it and read your post, another important concept came to mind: Don't confuse “hero” with “martyr.” Many times people go into situations intending to be the hero. The ego and romance of the situation can lead them to end up being a martyr. This reminds me of the movie, “Braveheart.” William Wallace wanted to return to Scotland to farm and raise a family, but he followed his heart to be a hero and lead others to freedom. He lost his life in the struggle.
    “Should I expose corruption in my work place, get fired, and lose my health insurance for my family?” That's a question from someone going down the martyr path.
    “How can I expose the corruption in my work place, not get fired, and keep my health insurance for my family?” That's a question from someone on the path to being a hero.

  7. Someone needs to stand in the gap, stand up for what is right. It has to start with understanding who we are at the core – what you said: what do we stand for, what do we stand against. This echoes much of what you talk about over here. We need heroes, even reluctant ones.

  8. Someone needs to stand in the gap, stand up for what is right. It has to start with understanding who we are at the core – what you said: what do we stand for, what do we stand against. This echoes much of what you talk about over here. We need heroes, even reluctant ones.

  9. Someone needs to stand in the gap, stand up for what is right. It has to start with understanding who we are at the core – what you said: what do we stand for, what do we stand against. This echoes much of what you talk about over here. We need heroes, even reluctant ones.

  10. Someone needs to stand in the gap, stand up for what is right. It has to start with understanding who we are at the core – what you said: what do we stand for, what do we stand against. This echoes much of what you talk about over here. We need heroes, even reluctant ones.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Pin It on Pinterest

Shares
Share This