Man's Search For Meaning

Discovering the Light in Darkness Remember the first time you picked up snow with your bare hand. It was soft and gentle, yet hard and piercing. Remember when you decided it was not cold enough to put on the winter hat. However, after a little time passed, you could not even feel your face for it had gone numb. Almost everyone has felt the biting of the cold. However, try to imagine an incomprehensible cold. A cold where nothing can move, not because things are frozen, but because the atoms and molecules themselves have ceased to vibrate. What most people would consider extremely cold is around 15 degrees Fahrenheit. To stop the vibrations of the atoms, scientists much reach minus 459.67 degrees Fahrenheit. For over four centuries, scientists

He himself went through a period of intense darkness that crushed several of those around him. As a Jewish man during World War II, Frankl was stuck in the most brutal concentration camp at Auschwitz. While in captivity, Frankl saw the best and worst of humanity. His personal experience shows that it more than just one’s environment that will have an effect on their behavior. Frankl even recollects in his book Man’s Search for Meaning, “the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms — to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way” (Frankl, 65). Why, when placed in those circumstances, would anyone choose to give away what they need to survive in order to help someone they have no attachment? Even when treated like animals, many humans will remain humane. Even when they may choose inhumanity, like rifling through a dead man’s pockets without offering any dignity, that can be attributed to need, but the remorse will remain (86). True, morals can be outweighed by needs and desires, but the morals will never disappear entirely. Examples such as these may be difficult to find, but the fact they exists in clouds of darkness at all prove that the environment of a person is not the definitive

It is an interesting thought piece, yes, but that is about all it is good for. First of all, the selection process was flawed. Think about the people who would actually volunteer for such a study. They clearly were willing to treat people like animals at the outset, as most people would not even think twice about signing up. Next, in an interview with one of the main perpetrators of the abuse, he said that he just wanted to shake up the situation, make it interesting. He just wanted to act foolish and get away with for what in his mind was for the sake of the study. Finally, the moment Zimbardo himself revealed he was a member of the study any remaining credibility was gone. One cannot be a member of the study they are supposed to observing and still be objective. Overall, the study as a whole should be considered