From: John Beckett 

Gene McAloon  wrote in message
news::
> anyone operating within the circumstances prevailing at the prison might and
> probably would have behaved in the same manner as those in the photos.

Another way to restate the idea behind this conjecture is to consider what
would happen if you took 1000 clones of yourself (or 1000 people who fit a
general description of you - same kind of society, upbringing, etc).

What would happen if those 1000 people were somehow reborn in a different
society where, for example, they might end up as prison guards in Saddam's
Iraq?

In other words, does brutality come from nature or nurture? Only the
irredeemably naive would imagine that all 1000 of their clones would behave
like saints in all conditions.

Consider the well-known story of the psychology experiment where students
are divided into two groups: prisoners and guards.

John

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