(no subject)
Everything in life has consequences. These consequences, good or bad, are the result of a series of choices. Choices made by individuals, by people with their own minds and control over their own lives. Once of these choices is obeying authority. The consequences range from good, such as obeying the rules of the road, to bad, such as obeying a gang leader to hurt another human. But how far will the average person obey? Will an average person listen to an authority figure, to the point of causing pain for another individual, even if there is no punishment for refusal? And what will the consequences of their choices be if they listen?
In 1963, psychologist Stanley Milgram developed a classic and controversial experiment to answer those very questions. The experiment consisted of two actors, an authority figure, and a learner. The subject of the experiment, called the teacher, was unaware of the fact that the other two people were paid actors. The teacher’s job was to read lists of words to the learner, who was to repeat them back correctly. If the learner gave an incorrect answer, he was shocked. The voltage increased with each incorrect answer, going up to 450 volts. Although Milgram and his colleagues originally said that only four in 1000 would go all the way to 450 volts, 60% of the subjects obeyed all the way.
Another controversial yet classic experiment regarding obedience and authority was Philip G. Zimbardo’s Stanford Prison Experiment. An advertisement in a newspaper called for male college students wishing to participate in a two-week “prison study” and earn $15/day, or $76 adjusted for inflation (“Stanford”). The students were arrested and taken to a mock prison. Through random selection, ten prisoners and 11 guards were selected to show how average people learned the roles present in every prison. Although the guards had no formal training, they quickly became aggressive, assertive, and showed their control and power over the prisoners in a variety of horrifying ways. The prisoners in turn became submissive and felt hopeless and depressed. Instead of individuals with names, they because numbers. The guards became more sadistic and controlling as time went on. Due to the extreme condition, the planned two-week experiment ended short after only six days and nights. Zimbardo’s experiment showed that when average, regular people were placed in positions of extreme control, they showed tendencies that in the real world are considered wrong, but in a prison-like environment are completely appropriate.
In 1963, psychologist Stanley Milgram developed a classic and controversial experiment to answer those very questions. The experiment consisted of two actors, an authority figure, and a learner. The subject of the experiment, called the teacher, was unaware of the fact that the other two people were paid actors. The teacher’s job was to read lists of words to the learner, who was to repeat them back correctly. If the learner gave an incorrect answer, he was shocked. The voltage increased with each incorrect answer, going up to 450 volts. Although Milgram and his colleagues originally said that only four in 1000 would go all the way to 450 volts, 60% of the subjects obeyed all the way.
Another controversial yet classic experiment regarding obedience and authority was Philip G. Zimbardo’s Stanford Prison Experiment. An advertisement in a newspaper called for male college students wishing to participate in a two-week “prison study” and earn $15/day, or $76 adjusted for inflation (“Stanford”). The students were arrested and taken to a mock prison. Through random selection, ten prisoners and 11 guards were selected to show how average people learned the roles present in every prison. Although the guards had no formal training, they quickly became aggressive, assertive, and showed their control and power over the prisoners in a variety of horrifying ways. The prisoners in turn became submissive and felt hopeless and depressed. Instead of individuals with names, they because numbers. The guards became more sadistic and controlling as time went on. Due to the extreme condition, the planned two-week experiment ended short after only six days and nights. Zimbardo’s experiment showed that when average, regular people were placed in positions of extreme control, they showed tendencies that in the real world are considered wrong, but in a prison-like environment are completely appropriate.