AN "EXPERIMENT" IN HUMANITY

03/14/2013


AN "EXPERIMENT" IN HUMANITY

Today was the "pie" day, 3.14 kind, never mind that it has been a pie day, each year, for centuries, but this year it had significant, I don't know why, but some people thought of making it significant this year, or may be they do every year just that I noticed being noticed for the very first time, otherwise, it was just another day.

There are two theories as to where we (humans) came from, one says that we evolved from lower animals, and the other that we are created, just as we are by a divine power,  called god. However we came to be here is immaterial, we have developed in to something beyond the original status, developing tribes, communities then town, cities and nations. As such we have become different than other animals, even though it appears that even the animals have some basic sense of cohesiveness.
 And that brings me to this experiment, commentary follows!

Marina Abramović, Rhythm 0, 1974

“This piece was primarily a trust exercise, in which she told viewers she would not move for six hours no matter what they did to her. She placed 72 objects one could ...See More

Marina Abramović, Rhythm 0, 1974

“This piece was primarily a trust exercise, in which she told viewers she would not move for six hours no matter what they did to her. She placed 72 objects one could use in pleasing or destructive ways, ranging from flowers and a feather boa to a knife and a loaded pistol, on a table near her and invited the viewers to use them on her however they wanted.

 

Initially, Abramović said, viewers were peaceful and timid, but it escalated to violence quickly. “The experience I learned was that … if you leave decision to the public, you can be killed… I felt really violated: they cut my clothes, stuck rose thorns in my stomach, one person aimed the gun at my head, and another took it away. It created an aggressive atmosphere. After exactly 6 hours, as planned, I stood up and started walking toward the public. Everyone ran away, escaping an actual confrontation.”

This piece revealed something terrible about humanity, similar to what Philip Zimbardo’s Stanford Prison Experiment or Stanley Milgram’s Obedience Experiment, both of which also proved how readily people will harm one another under unusual circumstances.”

This performance showed just how easy it is to dehumanize a person who doesn’t fight back, and is particularly powerful because it defies what we think we know about ourselves. I’m certain the no one reading this believes the people around him/her capable of doing such things to another human being, but this performance proves otherwise.”



As we look at the horrible result of this particular and the other experiments mentioned with in the article it brings me back to my contention that we are, in nature, nothing more than animals. What makes us think better or different from the rest when the truth is that we are actually worse, by nature. Animals do not break bonds of their societies, they all, most always, play by the rules of the community they are a part of, they all do the same thing always, they follow rules and boundaries of their societies. Humans, however, are not that smart, given a chance, we always step out of line, test and over step boundaries, and do things we are "not supposed to do.

We created laws, even gods and religions, to define proper behavior, to "make" us obey the boundaries of behavior and character,  when no laws and limits are defined, we fall in to the lowest form of humans we can be. These experiments prove this succinctly. 

These also show the need first, for a controlling code of ethics, a comprehensive list of acceptable behaviors and character. Secondly the need for all to follow these rules, as no society can exist for long where everyone is allowed to to as they please. Call it religion, call it laws, or call it something else but there have to be rules and people that follow these. I am not much for any religious dogma, but we see the consequences already, in society, of the "do your thing" mind set. Our failing education systems, our break up families, our disregard for authority all are the result of no one setting limits and no one following any. It is time we playerd by the rules, better yet to make some rules.

LIFE IS A GAME OF CONNECT THE DOTS, IF YOU DON'T CONNECT ALL THE DOTS OR DON'T CONNECT THEM IN THE RIGHT ORDER YOU NEVER GET THE PICTURE