The Human Condition [An All Encompassing Plot]

What happens when you put good people in an evil place?

Dr. Straighter is obsessed with the idea of ‘humanity’. Why does humanity equate to kindness? Are you not human if you’re not kind? Does every human automatically get this ‘humanity’, or is it taught and learned? And most important of all, does it last when put to the test?

Straighter dislikes like the term ‘humanity’. He believes that it inappropriately conveys the basic human tendencies. He thinks humans swing more toward good than bad on the cosmic scale, and he has come up with a way to prove it to the world.

Does evil triumph, or does humanity prevail?

There will be a two week long study of a mock prison. The prison will be populated by normal people; volunteers all of them, with no underlying psychological issues or mishaps with the law. It’s open to all districts and people between the ages of sixteen to twenty-four. Only sixteen people will be chosen. They will be divided into prisoners and guards, but will not know their assignment, or when the experiment is to take place.

At a random time, the prisoners will be arrested by real peacekeepers, and then transported the Institute of Psychology in District Six, where they will be stripped, searched, and deloused. The guards will have arrived be that time, to take part in the entry procedures for the prisoners. The arresting peacekeepers will leave, and from then on, with the exception of Dr. Straighter himself, only those sixteen people will have run of the facility. There will be minimal interaction with Dr. Straighter, the ‘warden’, who will be watching everything take place on cameras that are set up around the site. Only a certain guard will meet with Straighter to get daily instructions.

How easy is it to convince, manipulate, push a moral person to act in an immoral way?

A special facility was built just for this experiment. It’s the cordoned off basement of the Institute of Psychology that was remodeled to be a mini-prison. A main room is the cellblock, with two cells lining parallel walls, so that the cells face each other. Between the cells is the ‘recreational’ area, which is made up of some tables and chairs, where the prisoners can hang out when the guards allow them out of their cells.

In the corner is the control room that keeps track of all doors in the facility and whether they are open, or closed. From here, the guards can control all the cell doors with a flip of a switch. The control room has thick shatter-proof glass instead of walls, so the guards can look out on the prisoners while they are inside of it.

Adjoining the cellblock is the cafeteria. Beyond that is the guard’s room, which one big dorm style room. Four bunk beds line the walls, and each guard gets their own locker for their possessions. Guards can access the control room from their room.

Each area is separated by a heavy metal door that every guard has the keys to. You can find the floor plan here.