We like to believe that if necessary, we would stand up to what our boss is saying, intervene to help someone being bullied, say No if asked to do something wrong. The truth is that we usually do not stand up against what is happening. It is not a question of lack of courage or moral standing. To understand a new idea, one must accept it unconditionally for a fraction of a second. Then comes a second stage which makes us either refuse, doubt or continue to accept the idea. Someone with prefrontal brain damage is more inclined to follow orders because the part of the brain that checks, just before conditional acceptance, is damaged. The smaller a child the more it will accept a ‘bad’ idea, not because it does not understand, but because the brain area responsible for the second stage is not yet fully formed, whereas the part that initially accepts it is. The child does not think twice. This stage might still be immature even in older people. If someone in a position of authority asks us to do something that is wrong the brain area responsible for the second stage is inhibited and if ordered to do so, it is even more inhibited. If we are then told that the wrong action is for a good cause inhibition grows further. Sometimes atrocities are committed by people who are told that the goal justifies the means. These people well understand what is happening but the control stage is never triggered. Science is now discovering which are the brain areas responsible for control and refusal of wrong ideas. These areas are not those of courage and confidence in oneself. This means that opposing oneself is a question of thought and not of courage or strong character. Education, critical rather than mnemonic thought, debating and reading of articles and books that promote debate help develop the prefrontal areas of the brain involved in the second stage. This is news that should be of interest to parents, teachers, school consultants, team trainers etc.