You don't really need to read part 1 but feel free to do so.
In 1978, a series of experiments were conducted to understand self-fulfilling prophecies (What I talked about in the previous part). All the experiments were interesting but my favorite has got to be
The experiment would go as followed:
Two people competing in a contest to answer 24 questions.
The fastest to answer would win.
Simple idea and premise, however, it also included a tricky addition
The addition had a rule:
Basically, if person 1, let's call them Jack, is answering the first three questions, he gets to use the gun throughout that time period. Person 2, let's call them Mark, would get to use the gun in the three questions afterward.
Neither participant didn't know the other. The people conducting the experiment did something tricky. They'd go to person 1, AKA Jack, and tell him that person 2, Mark, is a mean, bad person who could do everything to win.
Jack listened to the people and took initiative first. He made sure to use the noise gun as much as possible in the first three questions.
As a retaliation, Mark would do the same.
What was happening consciously and subconsciously is interesting. The lie, the experimenters told Jack proved to be true because of Mark's reaction. As far as Jack was interested, Mark is in fact all those bad things he was told.
Jack's actions were a result of a suspicion caused by a lie. Mark's reaction was a response to Jack's actions, however, he also confirmed those suspicions true. And that is
Actions committed when treating like a cheater or violent result in that person behaving as such. Simple? Well...
Jack left and a new person came in to play against Mark. Let's call Jack's replacement Bill.
This time around, no one was told anything about the other. It was just perfect strangers competing. However, something strange happened.
This time, Mark didn't wait for the new person to do anything and started using the noise gun as much as possible even though it is a completely different person.
The way Mark was treated in the previous contest left him actively meeting the standards of a lie told about him in the early stage of the game. Violence and aggression continued in a new game even when the original person who started behaving violently (Jack) was gone.
Of course, an experiment reaching such a conclusion requires further proof. That's why we have what is known as "control experiments".
A scientific control is an experiment or observation designed to minimize the effects of variables other than the independent variable (i.e. confounding variables).
This increases the reliability of the results, often through a comparison between control measurements and the other measurements. Scientific controls are a part of the scientific method.
What this means basically is if I was to conduct an experiment where the conclusion is that Red Bull allows to stay up 4 more extra hours, an experiment must be conducted where the same situation is reenacted and shows the person sleeping 4 hours earlier under the same circumstances.
Another Jack and Mark came into the experiment, but this time they were told only positive things about each other instead of saying bad things to one the other.
"Violence" and the use of the noise gun were reduced severely even though it is still a contest where both sides aim to win.
Get constantly told that the other side is filled with bad people and the result would be you mistreating them and them eventually becoming bad people. Every protest, legislation, or point of view is seen cynically.
Creating a terrorist may not be the result of a mentally deranged person, a person with psychological problems, or even obsessed with Jihad. But, we can also create badly with our expectations alone. Take those expectations and air the world with a loud enough speaker and the result would be creating a villain.
However, if you become more understanding or even act without prior convictions, you might end up having a peaceful competition. Otherwise, we wouldn't only have people react negatively to our words, but they also would be doing horrible things to innocent lives.
