Amanda Byerman- Come to the Dark Side, Rey

            In 1971, Stanford University professor Phillip Zimbardo conducted the Stanford Prison Experiment, assigning half of a group of 24 young, white males as prisoners and the other half as guards. He found that the group of “guards” quickly and barbarously became power-hungry and abusive towards the prisoners, starving them, taking away beds and other necessities, and otherwise psychologically “tormenting” them. Zimbardo blamed this sudden and catastrophic turn of events on the prisoners and guards’ “internalization” of their assigned roles, he himself falling victim to the psychological effects of the experiment. This experiment, it could be argued, proved humans’ natural tendency towards evil when faced with the choice. It certainly shows our capacity for it.

            However, if humans only have a capacity for evil, how can you explain the concept of altruism at all? In an landmark study by the University of North Carolina and Virginia, psychologists found that when displayed a “strong display of virtue”, people are psychologically triggered to emulate these actions. Furthermore, when people were shown three different videos (one of moral goodness, one of someone showing off a skill, and another of a comedian telling a joke to rousing applause), the vast majority of people wanted to” emulate the act of goodness than wanted to dunk  like Michael Jordan”. Even if humans aren’t naturally wired for goodness (per Darwinism), we certainly try hard.

            Part of the draw of movies and stories like Star Wars is the clear line between good and evil. However, real life just isn’t that simple. But as long as we’re working towards being better, proving the cynics wrong, true "evil" can’t exist at all. Maybe its time to start accepting today’s world of gray areas and question marks, instead of living in a time long, long, ago in a galaxy far, far away.