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[Descan]

I've always figured that if you're member of the Nazi party before the holocaust, you're probably an alright guy, because the every day people joined the party so they would be able to survive, and to make professional and legal things easier.

Unless, of course, you end up in the history books, and/or are a guard, with exceptions for people like Schindler.

Of course, if you're -still- a Nazi after the holocaust was revealed, you're a dickbag.

[Vector]

*cough*

I have a family member who was in the Hitler Youth.  She still thinks that people who dye their hair should be deported and makes cooing statements over boys with blond hair and blue eyes.

She found out about the Holocaust only a couple of years ago.

Not everything bad about Nazi Germany was contained in the Holocaust itself.

[ChairmanPoo]

Don't be stupid, be a smarty...

[Descan]

I never said there wasn't exceptions.

Most Nazi members who were in the general public though, were probably alright. Hitler Youth, less so, because they'd have been indoctrinated while young. And of course, some people where just dickbags even if they weren't in authority positions.

[kaijyuu]

There are hardly any excesses of the most crazed psychopath that cannot easily be duplicated by a normal, kindly family man who just comes in to work every day and has a job to do.

I'm of the opinion that there were very few "complete monster" types among the nazis, even among those who ran the concentration camps and whatnot. Most of the time, these people were just following orders, being swept up in the country's fervor and just doing what they expected others wanted them to do. Sure, there were a few that got a sick pleasure out of it, and of course the people who originally thought up the genocide and whatnot, but I would argue the majority of people in Nazi Germany would've been disgusted if they knew everything going on... and most wouldn't do anything about it.

If there's any "evil" that runs through most of humanity, its our fear of speaking up against the majority and complacency in following the crowd. Manipulating this is how a charismatic leader like Hitler can spread some crazy doctrine and get people to follow it.

[Pnx]

We're pack animals, we like to follow what the dog in front of us is doing (a hundred times so if they're our friend), and we're also incredibly impressionable. "Free thinkers" are rare, and tend not to be as free as they think they are.
How many of your views have you borrowed from someone else? We get to choose who we listen to, but how limited has that selection been?

How much have your views been shaped by what I've said, or in fact, what you're reading just now.

[SalmonGod]

Critical.  Thinking.

Expose yourself to wide varieties of styles of thought, and pay attention to the principles behind what people say, not just the words on the surface.  A free thinker is someone who can list potential criticisms of his own beliefs and admit when he doesn't have a thorough response, and who does not cling to disagreement without full comprehension of the opposing side.

We have the capability to circumvent our "pack animal" tendencies.

[Pnx]

Critical.  Thinking.

Expose yourself to wide varieties of styles of thought, and pay attention to the principles behind what people say, not just the words on the surface.  A free thinker is someone who can list potential criticisms of his own beliefs and admit when he doesn't have a thorough response, and who does not cling to disagreement without full comprehension of the opposing side.

We have the capability to circumvent our "pack animal" tendencies.

I was kinda hoping people would come up with that on their own. :]

[Andir]

We have the capability to circumvent our "pack animal" tendencies.

Sometimes it's easier to not.

[Vector]

Easier is not necessarily better.

[SalmonGod]

"Easier" is also a relative term.  Something might feel easier in the short-term, but cause great difficulty in the long-term.

[ECrownofFire]

Once again, I repeat: Milgram Experiment.

Human psychology is fucked up when there's a leader figure involved.

[SalmonGod]

You're preaching to the choir there.  I'm shoving Milgram Experiment down people's throats all the time.  It's a great example of what I'm talking about, actually.  We can study our own behaviors and pick out how one form of social interaction triggers psychological tendencies that are undesirable.  With that knowledge, we should be able to mitigate the effects of or eliminate that form of social interaction, so that those psychological tendencies aren't triggered.  For some reason, not many people buy into that. 

In other words: 

My response to the Milgram Experiment is "Oh, so I should be highly critical of the nature of any command given to me by an authority figure, and seek to modify society's operational methods to be less dependent on that type of authority." 

Most people's response to the Milgram Experiment seems to be "Damn.  People suck."

[Siquo]

In other words: 

My response to the Milgram Experiment is "Oh, so I should be highly critical of the nature of any command given to me by an authority figure, and seek to modify society's operational methods to be less dependent on that type of authority." 

Most people's response to the Milgram Experiment seems to be "Damn.  People suck."

People is always "those other people"

[Ogdibus]

Yeah, I hate those guys. D: