Youve all probably heard about the The Milgram Experiment, but in case you havent I encourage you to read these words. The experiments relevance is of dire importance in addressing the grave perils of authority and how it poses as a threat to all of us who oppose violence and coercion. The Milgram Experiment was performed in response to the American publics reaction of the trial of Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann in 1961. The discord during the trial is the same discord that dictates discourse today, the question whether or not one should be harshly persecuted for following orders passed down to them by authority figures. The Milgram Experiment sought to address the role authority plays in convincing individuals to commit acts that violate their moral dispositions. The results of the experiment concluded what much of us studying current events have come to accept as axiomatic: Men and women will inflict harm on others if commanded to do so by one they view as having authority, even when it violates their own moral conscience. THE EXPERIMENT: The experiment was run with three participants, each fulfilling their own required role: The Experimenter (an authoritative role), the Teacher (a role intended to obey the orders of the Experimenter), and the Learner (the recipient of stimulus from the Teacher). In each trial of the experiment, the only real volunteer was the teacher, as the learners were confederates, i.e. they were pre-selected and only pretending to be volunteers. Prior to the actual testing, the volunteer (teacher) was given a sample electric shock from the shock generator to experience firsthand what they would be inflicting on the learner. During the test, the teacher was given a list of word pairs that would be taught to the learner. After reading the word pairs, the teacher would read the first word of each pair and provide the learner with four possible answers. The learner would press a button to indicate his response, if the answer was incorrect the teacher was ordered to execute an electric shock by the Experimenter. For each wrong answer, the voltage would be increased by 15 volts. The teacher believed the learner was receiving actual shocks, as a tape recorder was integrated with the electroshock generator which played prerecorded sounds for each shock level. After the learner was shocked several times they began banging on the walls and expressing a desire to end the experiment, at which point many of the teachers sought to end the tests. However, as was noted during the experiment, most continued to administer shocks at increased voltage when they were given assurance they would not be held responsible for any harm done to the learner. In fact, 26 of the 40 teachers ended up obeying the experimenters commands to continue administering shocks until carrying out the maximum voltage (450 volts) three times on the learner. [1] In society ones obedience to authority typically takes precedence over ones moral disposition. The reality of our time is that one feels more consternation at the thought of refusing an authoritative figures command than they do at killing or torturing their fellow man. When studying history and considering the implications of Milgrams Experiment we are left with an overt conclusion: Unthinking obedience to authority is a threat to the well-being of us all. REF: [1]: academic.evergreen.edu/curricular/social_dilemmas/fall/Readings/Week_06/milgram.pdf
Posted on: Sat, 27 Dec 2014 02:43:39 +0000
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