Here it is. It's been a very long time since I listened to it so sorry if my description was not very accurate. http://citedpodcast.com/30-exiled-part-2/
2019-05-22 15:17:20 +0000 UTC
Can't find it. Not even sure where to look. Can you point me in the right direction?
Alexander Grace
2019-05-22 12:15:36 +0000 UTC
Great comment thank you. I'm going to look up that podcast now. If I can't find it, I'll be back to ask you for a link :)
Alexander Grace
2019-05-22 12:13:24 +0000 UTC
Fantastic podcast. I fully agree with your point of view about all of us being able to do anything if we are in the wrong place. You don’t even need to go back to gulags or concentration camps, just watch a few prison documentaries. Under a system that rewards violence and punishes civility, your morals get compromised, survival instinct appears, cognitive dissonance starts rationalizing violent behavior and next thing you know you are doing things you would have condemned not long ago.
If you have the chance, have a look at the book “Mistakes were made but not by me”. Best book on how cognitive dissonance operates, even if you are an expert on cognitive dissonance.
Also, one of the best podcasts I’ve ever listened to was about a Mennonite community in Canada that had a program to help child abusers who got out of jail. They had meetings to openly discuss what they were going through, their feelings, therapies and help them to reintegrate to society and not cause harm to children. Some of them did successfully, some not.
In the podcast they explain the case of a guy who was attending the meetings regularly for years and he had no issue ever after leaving jail. The guy clearly understood how harmful his past actions were and how wrong it is for an adult to act like that. One day he befriended a couple in church. The couple invited him to dinner at their home. Then he started going to their house when their kids were not around to meet their friends. As they became friends he learned the schedule of the couple. Then one day he showed up -maybe by mistake, maybe intentionally…- when only the kids were in the house. He didn’t leave when he noticed the situation and… He was sent back to jail immediately.
The interesting part is he was sent back in jail even if he didn’t actually do anything harmful to the kids. Apparently, child abusers are severely punished when they put themselves in a situation where they could act on their instincts. And it may be extreme, but it makes total sense cause we can’t leave everything to free will when we know certain people have wrong instincts that may harm kids. Also, free will doesn’t exist.
Obviously, it’s an extreme case but I think it applies to many cases like your second story.
