Resolutions and responses

John Kelly on some resolutions for us all.

Also, I respond to your comments/e-mails:

On addiction: But then it's not an addiction, in the diagnostic (rather than pop-culture) sense of the word. Figuratively, I am definitely addicted to chocolate.

A few years ago, I told a friend—a recovering alcoholic—that I was really looking forward to a reception the following week because I needed a gin and tonic. Was that bad? Looking forward to a drink? I didn't keep the ingredients around couldn't be bothered to go into a bar to have one, but I couldn't wait for the one that would just be there. Her response was, anyone who can wait a week for a drink isn't an addict.

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I wish I were a comedic genius. I do. But I couldn't make this stuff up, and actually, I'm not great at making stuff up, period.... which is probably a good thing in this day and age of false memoirs. I blame Rigoberta Menchu. Have I already harped on her? She made up a personal history and got away with it by pleading cultural relativity, and people bought it. No wonder copycat criminals prospered.

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On Milgram/Zimbardo

The Milgram experiment can be considered flawed for multiple reasons, but I completely disagree with the one you cited, i.e. "because they are being ask to do something that they believe is "right and proper," they are told they are working with volunteers and there are many contexts that you may cause someone pain for good end -- like giving a kid a shot, even when he's crying and saying he doesn't want one."

Giving a kid a shot is different from inflicting punishment for the sake of inflicting punishment, but more importantly, the whole point is "being asked to do something that they believe is 'right and proper.'" Nazi prison guards, too, were doing something they were told was right and proper. Even without regard to abuse of authority—just following it—Milgram's results tell us plenty. There are a lot of atrocities in this world that result from blind obedience to authority.