April 22, 2011 | 6 If outside influences can make people act
badly, can they also be used to help people do good? In "Too
Hard for Science?" I interview scientists about ideas they would
love to explore that they don’t think could be investigated. For
instance, they might involve machines beyond the realm of
possibility, such as particle accelerators as big as the sun, or
they might be completely unethical, such as lethal experiments
involving people. This feature aims to look at the impossible
dreams, the seemingly intractable problems in science. However,
the question mark at the end of "Too Hard for Science?" suggests
that nothing might be impossible. The scientist: Philip
Zimbardo, professor emeritus of psychology at Stanford
University. The idea: Zimbardo is likely best known for the
Stanford Prison Experiment, which revealed how even good people
can do evil, shedding light on how the subtle but powerful
influences of a situation can radically alter individual
behavior. The study randomly assigned two do