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LESSONS
The Wave experiment discussion offers the opportunity to explore some
very difficult but never ending characteristics of human behavior. Some
things to consider are included below. [Suggestions for this page are
welcome]
Quotes-
Treat others as you would like to be treated -
The
Golden Rule
"Question Authority" - popular '60's bumper sticker and button
"It is the first responsibility of every citizen to question authority"
attributed to Benjamin Franklin
"Conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth." John F.
Kennedy
"THEY CAME FIRST for the Communists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist.
THEN THEY CAME for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist.
THEN THEY CAME for the Jews,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.
THEN THEY CAME for me
and by that time no one was left to speak up."
Pastor Martin Niemöller, January 6, 1946
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal,
that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that
among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. That to secure
these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just
powers from the consent of the governed." US Declaration of
Independence by Thomas Jefferson, 1776
Throughout human history, as our species has faced the frightening,
terrorizing fact that we do not know who we are, or where we're going in
this ocean of chaos, it has been the authorities: the political, the
religious, the educational authorities, who have attempted to comfort us by
giving us order, rule, regulations. Informing, forming in our minds an inner
view of reality. To think for yourself you must question authority and learn
how to immerse yourself in a state of vulnerable open-mindedness-- chaotic,
confused vulnerability to which you owe yourself. Think for yourself.
Question authority." Timothy Leary
"Cowardice asks the question - is it safe?
Expediency asks the question - is it politic?
Vanity asks the question - is it popular?
But conscience asks the question - is it right?
And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe,
nor politic, nor popular but one must take it because it is right."
Martin Luther King, Jr., 1967
"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation
where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content
of their character." Martin Luther King, Jr., August 28, 1963
"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot
drive out hate; only love can do that." Martin Luther King, Jr.
"Freedom makes a huge requirement of every human being. With freedom comes
responsibility." Eleanor Roosevelt
"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort
and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy."
Martin Luther King, Jr.
"If the freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be led,
like sheep to the slaughter." George Washington
"A nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in
an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people." John F. Kennedy
"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction."
Ronald Reagan
"If we cannot now end our differences, at least we can help make the world
safe for diversity." John F. Kennedy
"Can we all get along?" Rodney King, May 1, 1992
"If you can, help others; if you cannot do that, at least do not harm them."
Dalai Lama
"The ultimate authority must always rest with the individual's own reason
and critical analysis." Dalai Lama
"In the practice of tolerance, one's enemy is the best teacher." Dalai Lama
"In times of crisis, during floods, earthquakes, epidemics, depressions and
wars, separate individual effort is of no avail, and people of every
condition are ready to obey and follow a leader. To obey is then the only
firm point in a chaotic day-by-day existence." Eric Hoffer
"The frustrated follow a leader less because of their faith that he is
leading them to a promised land than because of their immediate feeling that
he is leading them away from their unwanted selves. Surrender to a leader is
not a means to an end but a fulfillment. Whither they are led is of
secondary importance." Eric Hoffer
"Be careful who you follow, because you never know where they will lead
you..." Mark Hancock (Third Wave class member)
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
George
Santayana
"To doubt everything or to believe everything are two equally convenient
solutions: both dispense with the need for thought." Henri Poincare
"Thinking must never submit itself, neither to a dogma, nor to a party, nor
to a passion, nor to an interest, nor to a preconceived idea, nor to
whatever it may be, if not to facts themselves, because, for it, to submit
would be to cease to be." Henri Poincare
"All lives have equal value"
Gates Foundation
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- Traits/phrases for Discussion
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Charismatic leader
Promises of a better future by the leaders
Gradual process of influence, power and abuse
Questions and open discussion discouraged
Mistreatment of internal dissidents
Outside common enemies and scapegoats
Held together by paranoia and fear
The group as your home, family, place of safety
Aggressive hateful group (not loving/supportive/inclusive)
Extreme positions and behavior
No middle ground (see issues in black-and-white, right-or-wrong)
Rigid rules of behavior
Snitching by members
Strict enforcement of rules by thugs
Elitist arrogant attitudes
Assertively recruit new members
The "right way", the "only way"
Majority are complaisant, while zealots are complicit
Procedures include elements of formality and mythology
Uniforms, flags, logos and other group bonding accoutrements
"If they are not for us, then they are against us"
"Holier than thou"
Transparency in organizations and government
Group versus individual rights
Peer pressure
Groupthink
Mob rule
Police state
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- Terminology to Consider
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Totalitarianism
Fascism
Dictatorship
Zealot
Intolerance
Bigotry
Prejudice
Proselytize
Convert
Charisma
Gang
Cult
Thug
Self-Righteous
Democracy
Republic
Oligarchy
Plutocracy
Indoctrination
Demagogue
Authoritarianism
Tyrant
Utopia
Ritual
Ideology
Mob
Scapegoat
Dogma
Propaganda
Capitalism/socialism/communism
Collaboration and complicity
Enabler
Barbarism
Despot
Groupthink
Regimentation
Conformity
Inculcate
Inoculate
Justice
Brainwash
Stereotype
Megalomaniac
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- Suggested Reading
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Hassling, by Sylvia Berry Williams (Cubberley High School after
The Third Wave, 1967/1968 & 1968/1969) (out of print, still in
libraries)
Animal Farm
and 1984, by George Orwell
Fahrenheit 451,
by Ray Bradbury
The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass
Movements, by Eric Hoffer
Stereotypes and Prejudices study guide
Utopia and Terror in the 20th Century
by Vejas Gabriel Liulevicius
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- Organizations
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Society for the
Prevention of Violence
The Heroic Imagination Project
Carnegie Hero Fund
The
Carter Center peace projects
US
Holocaust Memorial Museum
The Museum of Tolerance
by the
Simon Wiesenthal Center
Washington State Holocaust Education Resource Center
Facing
History and Ourselves
Teaching Tolerance
The Amer-I-Can Foundation for Social Change
Rachel's Challenge
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