Are situational forces more significant than the individual conscience? People constantly get themselves into situations that alter their normal thinking. You cannot always rely on your conscience to do what is right when you are in a situation for which you are not prepared. Situational forces have a greater influence on a person than their individual conscience. There are many things that can cause this, such as, drugs and alcohol, stressful situations, and influence from others. All of these things can cause a person to do something they wouldn’t normally do because the situation changes their thinking. Lee Ross and Richard E. Nisbett wrote “The Power of Situations.” This article explains how situations effect overall perception and decisions. According to Ross and Nisbett, “situational variables make quite a bit of difference. Occasionally, in fact, it makes nearly all the difference, and information about traits and individual differences that other people thought all-important proves all but trivial.”(Ross and Nisbett 629) “Group minds” was written by Doris Lessing. According to Lessing, “Many agree that among our most shameful memories is this, how often we said black was white because other people were saying it.”(Lessing 653) Both of these quotes back up the idea that situation overrides the individual conscience. Drugs and alcohol are one of the most common things to alter one’s state of perception causing decisions that wouldn’t normally be mad because of the situation. According to the International Journal of Medical Council on Alcohol, “Severe chronic use of alcohol has been consistently associated with neuropsychological impairments with respect to cognitive flexibility, problem solving, decision making, risky behavior and further aspects of cognitive function”(Medical Council on Alcohol 1) Therefore, drugs and alcohol are a good example of something that could ruin individual conscience, beca