Assignment #9: Obedience to Authority

Chapter 1: The Dilemma of Obedience

This chapter detailed the shocking for failure to learn experiment and explained some of the results. Every time I hear about this experiment, I am shocked. I don't want to believe that anyone is capable of doing the things that are described in this experiment, but I cannot see any way that I am correct. I also wonder if I was placed into this situation, what would I have done? I know most people don't want to know the results of this experiment about themselves, but I would like to know if I am a blind follower of authority or if I am capable of taking a stance. Several years ago, I know I would have followed blindly but I am not so sure anymore. Maybe one day I will find out.

 

Chapter 2: Method of Inquiry

This chapter covered the details in the experiment stated in chapter 1. I was surprised at how many changes were made from the original experiment to the final one. I also would have figured that there would have been minimal communication between the experimenter and the subject. Why did the experimenter tell each of the subjects what was occurring in the experiment when they were finished? The subjects could have told others what was happening and then the experiment would have been ruined? Also, I wonder how many of the subjects were unhappy in realizing that they were the whole purpose of the experiment. I wouldn't have been happy to learn that someone had lied to me in an attempt to do an experiment, though I would have been happy to participate in an experiment where I knew what was occurring.

 

Chapter 3: Expected Behavior

The topic covered in this chapter was the description of how and what the expected results of the experiment were. The people providing the expected results had drastically different ideas about what the results should be as compared to what they really were. These people thought that almost everyone would stop the experiment with only 1 or 2% of the population able to continue on to the last switch which is significantly less than actually got there. I am surprised, but not that surprised. This ties back in with the idea that I am not sure what I would do in this situation, and would actually like to know.

 

Chapter 4: Closeness of the Victim

 This chapter describes the effect that the variation in closeness to the victim had on the outcome. The closer the victim, the less likely a person is to complete the experiment. There were several points made which explained why this was the case. I felt that most of these, while accurate, might not have been the best description. The only one that makes sense from the initial description is "empathetic cues" which clearly means the closer the subject is to the victim, the more likely he is to see the cues and behave in an empathetic manner. After reading this section, I would not want to be a participant in this study in any way.

 

Chapter 5: Individuals Confront Authority

This chapter is entirely made up of descriptions of persons who participated in these experiments. There is a surprising deviation in the ideas behind why a person chooses to continue or to stop. These people come from all different backgrounds and have totally different world views. Because of this, no two persons reacted the same way to the situation. I was not surprised that the former military member followed the orders to the letter, but was surprised in the justification used by the priest and others as to why they did or did not continue. Again, after reading this chapter, I would not want to participate in this study at all.

 

Chapter 6: Further Variations and Controls

 This chapter described more experimental changes and their possible effects. The changing of the personal and the position of the authority figure changed the results spectacularly. I was mildly surprised, but not so much so that the results astounded me. If placing the victim closer made it harder to follow the authority figure, wouldn't removing the authority figure make it harder also? Women had the same results as men, this is interesting. Why would the experimenter expect this value to change? Changing the location of the lab, while it affected the overall results, did not affect them significantly enough to classify the results as different. Again, the experiment was changed so that the subject could choose the level of shock. This showed that many people were not willing to shock someone beyond1 the level where they complained. Each of these experiments changed at least one thing from the original experiment and thus showed  some ways that the subjects are able to skirt around authority without directly disobeying it. This was an interesting chapter, but hard to read because I can practically feel the anguish of some of the subjects in their words describing the actions that the subject had to take.

 

Chapter 7: Individuals Confront Authority II

It is shocking at the number of ways that people will try to absolve themselves of guilt. Each of the participants mentioned in this chapter had a reason why they were willing to continue the experiment or was clearly firm in their thought that the experiment was over. I was surprised that Milgram was able to find a subject that actually performed the way he was expecting. I thought no one would perform as expected, but I was incorrect. It is clear from reading this section that many people are deluding themselves about many parts of the experiment, including the fact that they were being studied and not the victim.

 

Chapter 8: Role Permutations

This chapter detailed new experiments where the authority figure and the person telling the subject to continue were not the same. The results of the experiments were surprising to Milgram, but not to me. If a person doesn't consider the victim as having the ability to stop the experiment, why would an authority figure playing the victim have the ability to stop the experiment. This chapter really expanded on the number of experiments which could be related to this topic. I was surprised by the number of variations available. What else can Milgram possibly change?

 

Chapter 9: Group Effects

This chapter was all about the ways in which a group setting would affect the subject's ability to shock the victim. When there are multiple people participating in the shocking of a man and the subject sees that there are no consequences in choosing to not continue, that is what the subject chooses to do most of the time. Likewise, if the subject is removed from the actual shocking process, he is able to continue for longer periods of time. I was not surprised by this, but I do wish that more people had the ability to stand up to authority by themselves. Though, I cannot note that I would be able to stop if placed in this scenario. The more of this book that I read, I want to know where I would fall on the given spectrum, but I am less and less inclined to want to participate.

 

Chapter 10: Why Obedience? - An Analysis

This chapter confused me like no other. What I was able to glean from it's pages is that as a person, we will either place ourselves under the supervision of a superior (the experimenter in this book) or we will be working for ourselves. The reason for this is so that all of humanity is able to fall into one of these rolls and not end up destroying ourselves one person at a time. Beyond that, the rest of this chapter was lost to me.

 

Chapter 11: The Process of Obedience: Applying the Analysis to the Experiment

This chapter is all about the interaction between the subject and the experimenter and how their "relationship" is created and defined. The subject has a perception of authority that must be filled and he willingly chooses to enter into the system of authority provided in the experiment. There were a lot of terms used to help describe this situation, but it boils down to a few ideas. First, the subject has volunteered for this and is assuming that an authority figure will be there. The experimenter is placed as this authority figure immediately. Second, the subject (once involved in an authority system) basically turns all responsibility over to the experimenter which is why he is able to continue the experiment until completion. Finally, because of the design of this experiment, the subject feels bound to complete the task or he will let the experimenter (his authority figure) down. This chapter helped to explain some of the reasons that the subject will completely follow the experimenter's instructions.

 

Chapter 12: Strain and Disobedience

This chapter showed the steps that a subject had to pass through in order to be classified as disobedient: inner doubt, externalization of doubt, dissent, threat, and finally disobedience. I didn't realize there were so many steps to breaking completely with the experimenter. I always assumed that the subject was able to jump past several of these steps at the same time, but separating them into distinct steps also makes sense. Each of these steps gets progressively harder. I am not surprised that some people were unable to break completely, but (despite the large number of distinct steps) I am still surprised at the number of subjects that do NOT break with the experimenter.

 

Chapter 13: An Alternative Theory: Is Aggression the Key?

This chapter briefly discusses the possibility that it is aggression which provokes the subject to shock the victim. As soon as this theory is presented, it is discounted based on previous work and the experiment where the subject could choose the shock level. I happen to agree, while there are those occasional odd balls who would shock someone just cause they could, a much larger majority of the population would not shock a person beyond minimal levels for any reason.

 

Chapter 14: Problems of Method

This chapter compared the experiments conducted by Milgram with the Nazi Germany time period. It also demonstrated that the results of this experiment should be representative of what would occur with anyone. Before reading this book, I would have thought that the results of this experiment could not easily be replicated, but it appears that no matter where the experiment is conducted the results are generally the same. I feel like many of the atrocities from Nazi Germany were done through obedience and often there was no thought made about whether or not the action should be taken.

 

Chapter 15: Epilogue

This chapter detailed an example of obedience to authority that was common in the Vietnam War and it shows how our society teaches us to follow authority figures unilaterally. The given example is terrible, I would never want to be placed in that situation, but this is why I am a student and not a soldier. The amount and type of things that humans will do in defence of authority is astounding and frankly, scary. Why do we as humans blindly follow authority? There are cases where it is clear that the authority figure has the individuals best intentions at heart, but what about the times when this is not the case? How far will we have to go before we are able to break away from the authority figure and say no? Only time, and experiments like Milgram's will tell.

 

Obedience to Authority

This book was at times interesting and at times boring. It provokes the reader to think and wonder about how he/she would react in the situation in which these subjects are placed. Could you tell the experimenter no? I know I would have trouble doing that. The role of authority figures in society is necessary, but we also need to know when to stop listening to authority.

There were two main examples given about obedience to authority and it's negative connotations: Nazi Germany and the Vietnam War. It may seem strange that both examples are of a war, but in reality people are willing to do things that they would never have considered doing before when in defence of themselves or their country. Most soldiers will follow orders when given simply because that is what they are supposed to do.

As humans, we need to recognize this need to follow authority completely and realize that this is not always the best option. Sometimes we need to be able to say that this is a terrible idea and I do not want to participate. Until humanity as a whole is able to accept that we are "hard wired" to be obedient to authority and find a way to be obedient when it is helpful and disobedient when it is not, humans will always be committing terrible actions simply because someone in a position of power told them to do so.

I wait eagerly for the day in which we realize that we give authority figures the ability to tell us what to do, so we must also check those figures and ensure that they are only doing what we would want to do. Obedience to authority is acceptable, but we must also know when to break from authority.