This, not incidentally, is another perfect setting for deindividuation: on one side, the functionary behind a wall of security glass following a script laid out with the intention that it should be applied no matter what the specific human story may be, told to remain emotionally disinvested as far as possible so as to avoid preferential treatment of one person over another - and needing to follow that advice to avoid being swamped by empathy for fellow human beings in distress. The functionary becomes a mixture of Zimbardo's prison guards and the experimenter himself, under siege from without while at the same time following an inflexible rubric set down by those higher up the hierarchical chain, people whose job description makes them responsible, but who in turn see themselves as serving the general public as a non-specific entity and believe or have been told that only strict adherence to a system can produce impartial fairness. Fairness is supposed to be vested in the code: no human can or should make the system fairer by exercising judgement. In other words, the whole thing creates a collective responsibility culminating in a blameless loop. Everyone assumes that it's not their place to take direct personal responsibility for what happens; that level of vested individual power is part of the previous almost feudal version of responsibility. The deindividuation is actually to a certain extent the desired outcome, though its negative consequences are not. Nick Harkaway
About This Quote

Deindividuation is the formation of a self-contained subgroup. Deindividuation can occur in either a positive or negative manner. A positive deindividuation occurs when there is a group that is made up of random people, but the individuals within the group are unaware of being members of this group. The individuals within the group have no individual identity, and have no idea who they are apart from their membership in the group.

It is because of this that deindividuation can be both beneficial and harmful to society. On one hand it can increase perception that the individual is not responsible for his actions, but on the other hand it can impair judgment and cause poor decision making. Deindividuation occurs when people are not aware of everything else around them because they are focusing only on one person or one thing.

This occurs in places like gas stations, grocery stores, and other public places where there are many different things to look at.

Source: The Blind Giant

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