Just-world hypothesis

By looking at the just-world hypothesis (also known as the just-world fallacy), we can begin to understand how victim-blaming can come from people who have completely good intentions.
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"When the British marched a group of German civilians around the Belsen concentration camp at the end of World War II to show them what their soldiers had done, one civilian said, “What terrible criminals these prisoners must have been to receive such treatment” (Hewstone, 1990). This statement was not made by a guard who was trying to justify his behaviour; it was made by an innocent civilian."
[Social Psychology and Human Nature, Comprehensive Edition - goo.gl/dzv1Gt]
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[@Georaga]

Good to have you back. It amazes me as I go through life, just how many people disassociate themselves with the issues around the world or oversimplify in order to prevent themselves feeling guilt, understandable though it is. At work I've been experiencing some interesting behaviours of projection; I buy sweets for the team and share them with not only the people I work with but tables beyond ours too. 3 o'clock pick me up! The thing is, after a little while, people started projecting their guilt onto my actions. They stopped understanding that it's a nice thing to happen because they would feel guilty for not doing it themselves/not wanting to do it and therefore with their response, the act became negative. "Thank you"s became "seriously you need to stop buying everyone sweets, you're wasting your money". I'm gradually engaging people to stop thinking like that and to accept positivity, because that's why I do it... to impact the world around me positively. We're so prone to negativity as a society. Definitely went off topic but hey, the thoughts we have. Thanks for the video dude.

[@funch357]

Excellent, Myles. I'm recommending this video over on another channel where the producer talks about this very thing, but doesn't use the term "just world hypothesis". Thank you for not coming across as an extremist but instead as a rational, polite guy one could have a beer with.

[@mason-qm2eb]

I have always thought this but never had a name for this. Thanks!

[@prestigeservices3172]

Myles this video was of great assistance to me, it gave me a greater cognition of the concept. Awesome work

[@diyana]

I have become aware of and have accepted situations as they are. Now I'm at the point of gaining as much knowledge as possible and solidifying my points to constructively and effectively spread the awareness. This is a challenge for me because all my life I've not been encouraged to express myself and one of the means of taking action is to speak out my mind. But I'm confident that I will improve and be a part of this conscious movement. Myles, your videos are always enlightening - keep it up!

[@TomHinsley]

Glad to hear that you're back Myles!

[@xaphoonofbamboo]

It's great to see you making videos again! I'm excited! People are complex. I think it's dangerous to jump to assumptions that people are 100% in the right or 100% in the wrong. Examples like the ones you gave here show that we often aren't educated enough about situations, or don't have appropriate evidence to reach an informed conclusion. Often it seems better to first acknowledge that actually, I don't understand the situation, and then hopefully that becomes the start of greater awareness or empathy. Sometimes we can then do something about it, but sometimes we can't. It depends on the situation, and what we believe to be personally relevant.

[@ketsybaby5686]

Great video this week Myles, great examples and concise, but a wide range of trigger issues to get people to understand. So glad you are back to weekly videos, you were missed. Well done you!

[@CalvBore]

Great video to get back into it! Really happy to see you making regular videos again Myles!

[@thecousinbellic]

I think the vlogbrothers (John and Hank Green) also have covered this topic in one of their videos. In my experience, this belief is often a way of defending your privilege, especially if you have been born into it instead of earning it. It's a kind of coping mechanism to justify your inaction, or the very uncomfortable revelation that your daily actions and habits might be encouraging a serious societal problem. I've lost count of stories on how chocolate, computers and smartphones are produced by workers in abusive factories, yet I buy them because they're easily available in stores. Rationalizing this fucked up system as just and fooling yourself into believing those guys had it coming is one way to tell yourself you're a good person, despite having reason to believe otherwise. The alternative to helplessness is blissful ignorance.

[@markusd.7140]

Hey, i am just new on this channel. I like it sooo much how you are teaching this stuff. Thank you l, great work. ❤

[@foxandfound4452]

Really important message. So good to hear it put into words. So true about good and bad too. What do those words even mean when everybody has different values

[@dennisbauer3315]

This is how it works. When I was very little it was installed in us that, "crime does not pay" In my early 70's now, its still hard to accept is pays for millions of people. Its called conditioning.

[@alainelowell1997]

I find I do this with health issue. If someone gets cancer, I try to find a reason, genetics, eating and health habits, age, etc. so I can rationalize it won't happen to me. I'm aware of if and catch myself. It seems to be automatic.

[@hermanessences]

While this is true, it's important to be aware of the antithesis as well. People are not just kafkaesque victims of everything happening around them. If people assault police officers, they have only themselves to blame if they get shot, some people are poor because they _are_ lazy, or because they _choose_ to be poor, etc. The latter is seldomly talked about. We demonize money, but then go out of our way to victimize people who choose to live a more virtuous lifestyle by the same standard. What's up with that?

[@Myles]

+hermanessences That was why I was careful to say in this video '"It is unfortunate to have this MENTAL STARTING POINT" - i.e. We must come at each situation objectively.

[@Elinious]

I think at the end of the day, what I struggle with most us that one person cannot take on all issues at the same time. For example, mass surveillance is something I have a problem with but to be honest, I do have nothing to hide currently and there are other issues that affect me more or hold my interest more. So I tend to focus on those while other serious issues get less or no attention. I can't fix everything you know, there's a limit to what one person can do.

[@dragonofthewest8305]

What’s your advice for people being judged this way?

[@BluetifulI]

I might have done this a few times...but not because I think anyone deserves what they're going through, I just believe that whatever we're all going through its up to us how we get through it. I also believe everything happens for a reason and no one gets more than what they can handle. And even if it might be their fault they still deserve help without judgment. Hope that makes sense lol

[@doru4248]

Obesity: they clearly need to take care of their eating habits. I'm not sure how could anyone else do it for them?

[@vedas4life584]

“Just world theory” as it was developed by Melvin Lerner is a materialistic (atheistic) concept. It doesn’t take into consideration many factors. Psychology and philosophy are linked, one actually came from the other. Philosophy comes along with religion because otherwise it would be all sentiments with no logic or reasons behind. If we use the law of Karma - the metaphysical law of universal justice, then we’ll see why a certain soul embodied in this world gets bad results even though being good. Because the fruits of action (karma) can come from the previous lives. Moreover, according to the Vedic Holy scriptures it’s said that we have both the free will and God who sanctions all the actions to happen. What happens, whatever it may be, is a result of our past deeds derived from the overall karma accumulated. There it is also said the intricacies of karma are hard to understand, that’s why we sometimes can’t know why a certain thing happened. However, there is always a reason behind it with no coincidence.

[@yvonnegonzalez5616]

Skull shorts R cool2. Fascinating iz foloing,U.

[@gatorpower7478]

You have such a pretty face I really love you're nose and eyes! Thanks for the video :)

[@1258-Eckhart]

Injustice often results in loss of freedom which translates as loss of rights. We've been attacking the causes of injustice for a long time, but in fact there's no argument against a vested interest. Better not to attack the cause (economic interests), but to enhance the effect (civic freedom). This can be done by establishing constitutionally a fundamental right to a basic income. And that has nothing to do with social welfare. It's not a "benefit", it's (if correctly understood) a *right*. A right (as with all rights) to more freedom. Enhanced freedom causes injustice to withdraw. Injustice gets displaced, as the morning sun dispels the mist.

[@michaelmorse4444]

The country thrives on injustice.

[@1258-Eckhart]

@@michaelmorse4444 Well, thank you for bringing me back to this video. The series Myles did here belongs to his best work. You seem to be suggesting that injustice is a necessary element of human intercourse. That reminds me of the TV-series "Who Dares Wins," based on SAS training methods. To me, the motto was "the unjuster the better". Injustice melded into physical abuse. Does that catch your drift?

[@BluetifulI]

Love the t-shirt btw!

[@Shebeast3]

great video myles.glad to see you doing them again.and i agree with everything you said in this vid.free county free speech last i checked so yeah.it might not make the world a better place but people are entitled to their opinion as long as they arent forcing it down other peoples throats.

[@nscsc]

well done Myles, the world has always rewarded the people who look to exploit, the only time Jesus kicked off was in the temple with the traders. hopefully we can organise and create new more equal means of already established structures be it in the media or banking sector. remove greed and true enlightenment will be found.

[@doru4248]

Police brutality: people should police their own communities according to the Bill of Rights or at least stop blaming their masters.

[@doru4248]

People should not be forced to help the poor, even though they should be convinced to do it.

[@michaelmorse4444]

And that's why people die on the streets in the richest nation on earth. People will do anything for their freedom to let others die. That's what it is to be American. No wonder this country is a joke to the other major nations. They could wipe out the us at any moment, they just leave us as an example of what happens when you lie to your subjects by telling them they have the same rights as the monarchs that rule the country.

[@doru4248]

@@michaelmorse4444 "they just leave us as an example of what happens when you lie to your subjects by telling them they have the same rights as the monarchs that rule the country" Oh, I apologize, you openly support genocide. I was not paying attention. Of course you like it.

[@doru4248]

@@michaelmorse4444 Are you under the impression that you rule the country, by any chance?

[@patriciamcdermott2761]

Brilliant! Would you consider producing tshirts to help raise funds and promote your channel, like Humanist Report Channel and TYT do?

[@argerm57]

Do some of your examples (woman drinking excessively and being sexually assaulted, refugees putting their own children in danger) ignore the fact there are consequences for every action? I can see your point in that all of your examples could indicate a just world fallacy. But at least some of them also have a component of risk that can't be ignored. How do you sort this out? It seems to me that some of these examples are not as clear-cut as you would have us think, that some of these have fuller or different explanations or arguments.

[@InfoArtistJK]

Jesus warned of this, with a solution, thousands of years ago. Shalem!

[@InfoArtistJK]

@M A Christians must sincerely try to follow Jesus' instructions. He did no evil (unlike u who attacks the good in order to run from and/or justify ur evil). Anyone who does evil without truly repenting is anti-Christ. I thought u were smarter. Billions of smart people follow the Jewish Messiah who made God accessible to all. Your ego thinks someone, please somebody somewhere follow me M A...MeMa. The ash heap of history is piled high with those losers who try to compete with Yeshua/Eashoa. I truly suggest getting over your narcissism. How do your loved ones put up with this part of you?! Peace!