Idiot wind

Alexa 2022-03-20 09:01:09

A case with seemingly conclusive evidence started from a jury’s questioning, gradually changed its direction, and finally subverted the original judgment. This 1957 film, according to the reasoning expert Spring, said that the "reversal" style was also popular at that time when the innate reasoning was prevailing. Putting aside the pleasure of reversal, in fact, the film’s depiction of human weakness is the most exciting. The 12 jurors in it are all so impulsive. No wonder the title is called 12 Angry Men! This was the case 50 years ago, and it will not be the same after 50 years. If we don’t know the truth, we tend to fall to the west when the east wind blows, and to the east when the west wind blows. In the end, there is really nothing to believe.

Just like that song by Bob Dylan:
Idiot wind, blowing through the buttons of our coats,
Blowing through the letters that we wrote.
Idiot wind, blowing through the dust upon our shelves
We're idiots, babe.
It's a wonder we can Even feed ourselves.

Human stupidity has not been improved since a hundred years ago. Looking at Akira Kurosawa’s Rashomon, our memory is distorted with our position. We like to selectively remember those that are good for us. Sometimes, even I cheated together. History is written by victors, so it is also impossible to get rid of personal inferences.

So where does this human stupidity come from? In fact, it stems from Prejudice, prejudice. Prejudice is an inherent defect in the human thinking system. Unfortunately, it cannot be changed. Because prejudice and intuition are actually the same thing, the nervous system of the human brain has established a behavioral guidance model based on probabilistic judgments through the experience of a young age. That is, when you see a dark cloud for 10 times and 9 times it rains, the first 11 times when I saw dark clouds, I would consciously go home to collect clothes. In many cases, we don't know the inner principle of things, but only from the phenomenon, we can already use the probability model to predict. This is why when you are in a certain environment, you have an ominous hunch; this is why a lover can quickly reflect whether a person is lying when speaking. These are the functions of probability judgments. Therefore, the only difference between prejudice and intuition, which is also based on probabilistic judgment, is that intuition is that the probabilistic judgment is right, and the bias is that the judgment is wrong.

So, human beings, give up resistance. The shortcoming of prejudice cannot be overcome.

Although the jury of 12 Nuhanli found the flaws in the evidence through super-rational analysis, it is a pity that such rational scenes do not happen often. In the movie, they themselves said that if these 12 people convicted the case as a pending case, and another 12 people were brought to the second instance, they would almost certainly be convicted.

Here comes another problem that is often mentioned by film critics. This film is based on the assumption that the defense lawyer is negligent. In fact, it is the lawyer’s responsibility to examine the evidence of the case, and the jury is composed of ordinary people. The composition is usually used to identify purely objective facts. So these people are not so smart or sensible. For the sake of the compact plot, all discussions and refereeing are concentrated on these 12 juries. As an ordinary training group, the performance of these people in the film is completely normal.

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Extended Reading

12 Angry Men quotes

  • Juror #8: [after conducting an experiment to see if the old man could have reached his door in 15 seconds] Here's what I think happened: the old man heard the fight between the boy and his father a few hours earlier. Then, when he's lying in his bed, he heard a body hit the floor in the boy's apartment, heard the woman scream from across the street, got to his front door as fast as he could, heard somebody racing down the stairs and *assumed* it was the boy!

    Juror #6: I think that's possible!

    Juror #3: [from the other side of the room] *"Assumed"?*

    [Everyone looks at #3 as he chuckles]

    Juror #3: Brother, I've seen all kinds of dishonesty in my day, but this little display takes the cake. Y'all come in here with your hearts bleedin' all over the floor about slum kids and injustice, you listen to some fairy tales... Suddenly, you start gettin' through to some of these old ladies. Well, you're not getting through to me, I've had enough.

    [starts shouting]

    Juror #3: What's the *matter* with you guys? You all *know* he's guilty! He's *got* to burn! You're letting him slip through our fingers!

    Juror #8: [brow furrowing] "Slip through our fingers"? Are you his executioner?

    Juror #3: I'm one of 'em!

    Juror #8: ...Perhaps you'd like to pull the switch?

    Juror #3: For this kid? You bet I would!

    Juror #8: [baiting him] I feel sorry for you. What it must feel like to want to pull the switch! Ever since you walked into this room, you've been acting like a self-appointed public avenger. You want to see this boy die because you *personally* want it, not because of the facts! You're a sadist!

    [#3 lunges wildly at #8, who holds his ground. Several jurors hold #3 back]

    Juror #3: I'll kill him! I'll - *kill him!*

    Juror #8: [calmly] You don't *really* mean you'll kill me, do you?

  • Juror #8: [taking a cough drop that Juror #2 offered him] There's something else I'd like to talk about for a minute. Thanks. I think we've proved that the old man couldn't have heard the boy say "I'm gonna kill you", but supposing he did...

    Juror #10: [interrupting] You didn't prove it at all. What're you talking about?

    Juror #8: But supposing he really *did* hear it. This phrase, how many times have all of us used it? Probably thousands. "I could kill you for that, darling." "Junior, you do that once more and I'm gonna kill you." "Get in there, Rocky, and kill him!"... See, we say it every day. That doesn't mean we're gonna kill anyone.

    Juror #3: Wait a minute, what are you trying to give us here? The phrase was "I'm gonna kill you"; the kid yelled it at the top of his lungs... Don't tell me he didn't mean it! Anybody says a thing like that the way he said it, they mean it!

    Juror #2: Well, gee now, I don't know.

    [Everyone looks at #2]

    Juror #2: I remember I was arguing with the guy I work next to at the bank a couple of weeks ago. He called me an idiot, so I yelled at him.

    Juror #3: [pointing at #8] Now listen, this guy's tryin' to make you believe things that aren't so! The kid said he was gonna kill him, and he *did* kill him!

    Juror #8: Let me ask you this: do you really think the kid would shout out a thing like that so the whole neighborhood could hear him? I don't think so; he's much to bright for that.

    Juror #10: Bright? He's a common, ignorant slob. He don't even speak good English.

    Juror #11: [looking up] He *doesn't* even speak good English.