Milgram has defined obedience as “the psychological mechanism that links individual action to political purpose.” What do you think encourages obedience? Is it fear of punishment? A desire to please? A need to go along with the group? A belief in authority? As some students watched the film Obedience, some laughed. How do you account for that laughter? Is it because something was funny or was there another reason? Those who study human behavior say that laughter can be a way of relieving tension, showing embarrassment or expressing relief that someone else is “on the spot.” Which explanation is most appropriate in this case? How did the volunteers act as they administered the shocks? What did they say? What pressures were placed on them as the experiment continued? How did they decide whether to stop? Did you identify with any of the volunteers you observed in Obedience?
26 comments:
I personaly think that the milgram experiment was hard to watch because, i personal would not have taken that choice. I believe in myself to the point where if i said "no" then i would stop and refuse to continue with the expierement. Even though noone was hurt you don't know that through the whole scene. I personaly would feel responcible for the other person even if the expierementor of the whole thing says he'll take credit. Its not right and noone should have that power over you to tell you do somthing when your against it. I belive in myself. I know that i would stop and not continue to follow the instructions. Causing pain to others isn't right and unjustice. When they say stop you stop and don't ask any questions. Also i feel as if this movie is suppose to send almost a subliminal message. Everyone is currupt in their own way. If there is an authority figure you'll do what your old. that man was alot older than we were and he was listening to the words of someone who obviously didn't care about the well being of that man in the other room. The moral of the rant is, if your going to say no then stand by your decision and stop doing it.
I think that I would have refused to continue with the experiment once I realized the pain that I was placing on the other person. I thought it was surprising how the man felt that if he didn't have to take responsibility for shocking the learner it would be okay to continue. I personally know that if I was put in that situation I would know the difference between right and wrong especially when you are purposely putting another human being into pain/danger.
I agree with Shaina that when a person in power tells you to do something it seems right to do so but people should do what they thing is morally right.
This experiment was difficult for me to watch. At points I felt very uncomfortable and was in complete shock from what I was seeing on the screen. I think obedience is encouraged from the fear of being punished, and constantly wanting to please others to make them happy. People get embarrassed or feel left out easily if they are not going along with or doing exactly what others are doing. So, even if it includes doing something wrong or something you completely don't believe in, people will do it anyways just so they are not put on the spot. The reason for people laughing is due to the fact that nerves are gradually building up, and they are getting nervous for the other person's health or well being so the only way to relieve this strange stress is by laughing; not because they think something is funny. Everytime a volunteer administered a shock they got more and more nervous and unsure of what they were doing, and began to second guess their actions. They kept saying how they should stop because they felt that what they were doing would be blamed on them and they would hold responsibility for the other person's harm/death. What surprised me the most was how even though the person getting shocked was screaming and begging for them to stop, and at one point completely stopped making any noise, the volunteer still went along and shocked them just because the man in charge told them to. For all they knew, they could have killed a person and they did not have any care in the world just because they weren't to blame. This video made me sick to my stomach and I still cannot believe people actually act in this manner.
I think that obedience is encouraged by a fear of punishment, desire to please, and the need to go along with the group. People are obedient based on what others are doing and how influential someone is. If they know the consequence ahead of time, they are more likely to follow orders. In this case, I think that the laughter of the students was a combination of finding the shocks humorous as well as relieving tension. The students probably felt awkward and uncomfortable seeing someone being shocked and as a result, they laughed to ease the tension. However, I also think that some students truly thought that harming another human being was comical which is appalling to me. I think the more appropriate response would be to laugh to ease tension, not to laugh at the person in pain. During the shocks, the “teachers” at first saw no problem but later realized that what they were doing was hurtful to the student. They then were more hesitant to continue to shock the “student”. They said that they did not want to be held responsible if the “student” was injured and that they did not want to continue because they thought that the “student” was hurt. As the experiment continued, the “teachers” were pressured to follow the rules they were given which was to increase the shock. They would stop when they heard the person yelling out in pain, but would continue when they were assured that they would not be held responsible for any injuries. I identified with the volunteer that was concerned for the person they were shocking, Although this man did not stop, I understood that he felt guilty for hurting someone without any purpose.
I had a hard time watching this experiment, because it made me sad to see the kind of people that there are out there. Though this experiment shows that obedience is a human quality, I know that the people deep down knew that what they were doing was wrong, but continued anyways. they could have done this because they had a messed up type of pleasure from hearing the screams from the other room, because they could harm another human without consequence. It also could have been because they do not have the will or moral power to stand up to a person in authority when they this are encouraging a bad behavior. The results of the experiment are chilling because it shows how American citizens fall to the same excuse of "just following orders" that the Germans used, without all the brainwashing that the Germans had gone through. It shows how easily that a tragedy like the Holocaust can reoccur. Even today there are genocides going on that are happening by the same terms that the Holocaust occured under, and its heartbreaking to me to see that people don't have to moral conviction to stand up for what is right even against authority members. I think that the laughing stems from the fact that it is an uncomfortable situation, because they are inflicting pain on the other, and hearing their screams, but they are going to continue inflicting increasing amounts of painful shocks. It got more uncomfortable as the pain got worse, and the screaming and begging got more and more frantic. By the time the screaming stopped completely, the subject was extremely uncomfortable, but continued to follow orders. They didn't stopped until the scientist told them to stop, though the subject wanted to stop. The scientist continued to urge the subject to continue the shocks, and because they would assume responsibility for the learners, the teacher continued to give the shocks. after watching this i see how important it is to truly think about my actions, and not just follow orders.
I agree with shaina that it is important to stand by your moral ideals, and to not compromise whats right for what you are being told to do
I had a hard time watching this experiment, because it made me sad to see the kind of people that there are out there. Though this experiment shows that obedience is a human quality, I know that the people deep down knew that what they were doing was wrong, but continued anyways. they could have done this because they had a messed up type of pleasure from hearing the screams from the other room, because they could harm another human without consequence. It also could have been because they do not have the will or moral power to stand up to a person in authority when they this are encouraging a bad behavior. The results of the experiment are chilling because it shows how American citizens fall to the same excuse of "just following orders" that the Germans used, without all the brainwashing that the Germans had gone through. It shows how easily that a tragedy like the Holocaust can reoccur. Even today there are genocides going on that are happening by the same terms that the Holocaust occured under, and its heartbreaking to me to see that people don't have to moral conviction to stand up for what is right even against authority members. I think that the laughing stems from the fact that it is an uncomfortable situation, because they are inflicting pain on the other, and hearing their screams, but they are going to continue inflicting increasing amounts of painful shocks. It got more uncomfortable as the pain got worse, and the screaming and begging got more and more frantic. By the time the screaming stopped completely, the subject was extremely uncomfortable, but continued to follow orders. They didn't stopped until the scientist told them to stop, though the subject wanted to stop. The scientist continued to urge the subject to continue the shocks, and because they would assume responsibility for the learners, the teacher continued to give the shocks. after watching this i see how important it is to truly think about my actions, and not just follow orders.
I agree with shaina that it is important to stand by your moral ideals, and to not compromise whats right for what you are being told to do
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I don't think that I would have continued to carry on with the experiment. I would have stopped once I found out the pain that the other person was feeling. Regardless if they were an actor or not, this was still not the right thing to do. It was really weird that the man thought it was alright to do it since he did not have to take all the blame. Causing pain to other people is never alright. I do not know how somebody can cause so much pain to others and still accept themselves. People obviously know right from wrong, even in situations like this.
I believe obedience is encouraged by people with some type of higher authority. This higher power may serve some type of punishment to those who do not obey orders. With this fear of punishment comes those who feel the need to go along with a group and truly believe in this authority. I believe the reason why some people laughed at the obedience out of nervousness and feelings of being uncomfortable. The volunteers were feeling guilty about administering the shocks. Many of them said they couldn't keep doing the experiment, but the scientist continued to pressure them. He also told the volunteers that he is completely responsible for the person receiving the shocks, which relieved the stress put on the volunteers. They decided whether to stop depending on the response of the actor who was being "shocked". I could identify myself with a person who administered the first few shocks but stopped soon after. I would continue the experiment up to the point where the actor asked to be let out.
I actually watched the same video on the Milgram experiment last semester in Psychology. I knew a lot about the experiment before watching it again in Facing History. In psychology I analyzed it to think about how the teacher was impacted by the thought of hurting someone. The big question is do you want to stand up for what's right or will you just sit there? If I was in that case I would have gotten up and checked on the guy and ignored the experiment. I know how the experiment actually worked but still if he doesn't want to continue don't let it continue. Stand up for your rights.
I found this difficult to watch not only for the screaming man, but for the realization of how this relates to society. It is scary to think that 40 or 50% of people would simply follow orders and let this happen, and you wonder of the repercussions looking forward. It is simply "shocking".
While watching the Milgram experiment I kept trying to put myself in the teachers shoes. He agreed to the experiment and was told that he would not be held accountable for any harm to the student. However even though he was being told to do it he was still the one inflicting the pain to the student and had to think about what if he were chosen as the student. I personally would have stopped once I heard the person screaming of pain and requesting to stop because I don't think I have the right to hurt someone who is literally strapped to a chair and helpless.
I think obedience is encouraged by many aspects. It has some fear of punishment by a higher authority and also for the reason that they know it's not their fault. In the video we watched today, the man clearly made sure that he wouldn't be named responsible if anything happened to the man and even though when he was giving the volts to the man when he wasn't responding like he normally did, the man proceeded on doing it because he knew if anything had happened he wasn't liable for any of it. It's all about the fear of punishment and when that factor is gone, it's no issue for anybody.
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While watching this video I found it difficult to watch as I thought a man was being shocked to death. I think that the reason the teacher kept going was because he felt like he needed to keep going. All it took for him to deliver the highest voltage was an authoritive figure saying that he had no responciablity for what happened to the learner. Over All I think that obiedience is drivin by people striving for power and not having to accept the responciablity for their actions
This was the second time I saw this experiment and both times I was disgusted with that man. I feel as though our whole lives from when we are young kids to when we are in school we are always told exactly what to do. This obviously continues on to people's adult lives. I think that there is a line to be drawn though when your morals are being put in jeopardy. When the man thought the learner was hurt I was shocked that he continued just because the doctor told him to. I agree with shaina that people should not just follow what everyone else says and stand up for what they think is right
I feel like the guy should have stopped even if he was told to continue because he wasn't being held at gunpoint to continue.
After watching the obedience film, it made me realize how the nazi party came to power. It was disturbing to watch the man continue to shock the learner. It was very uncomfortable to watch. I think the man did this out of both fear and obedience to an authoritative figure. There was no justification for his laughing and made him seem very unethical.
After watching the Milgram experiment i was completely shocked by everything I watched. I could not believe that the man continued shocking the "learner" even after he stopped respondig.The man was probably dead, and all he had to do was walk through a door to check on him, but no. The teacher didnt even have the courage to stand up for himself, or face his "beliefs". For the reaction that some students laughed, I find that shocking. What this expirament did was provide me knowledge and courage to stand up for myself and my beliefs. The expirament was so sad and after watching and then reading the article, I felt so relieved that the learner was an actor. If I was put in that situation I wouldnt have even done the 45 (lowest) voltage. I cannot believe that anyone would do such a thing.
The Milgram experiment makes me consider what I would do in that situation. I strongly want to believe that I would have refused to continue on after they asked me to stop, but truthfully, the power of persuation is very strong. If a person in power tells you to do something, your original reaction is to follow orders. I hate not knowing what I would do in that situation. I know that it is morally wrong and hope that I would do the right thing. It's easy for me to believe tat 50% of the volunteers continued on to the highest setting becasue of the comanding presence of the person administering the tests. We could visibly see the internal struggle that the person we saw reading the pairs of words was going through. It wasn't easy for him to continue, but once he had the reasurance that he wouldn't be responsible for causing the death, he was able to continue.
I agree with Veda that is is morally wrong to commit this act.
The Milgram experience taught me people will never change and haven't changed. It proved to me if their not responsible for someone else getting hurt, they don't mind causing the pain. Thats a really bad mentality and with this movie it helped understand myself. It showed me if i was in the same situation as the "teachers" i would askto not be a part of that experience because its morally wrong and thats how the Holocaust started. So to prevent such a thing happening again we need to think thru some stuff we do.
I agree with Juliette Lloyd that its hard to have refused to continue on after they had asked me to stop.
The Milgram experience taught me people will never change and haven't changed. It proved to me if their not responsible for someone else getting hurt, they don't mind causing the pain. Thats a really bad mentality and with this movie it helped understand myself. It showed me if i was in the same situation as the "teachers" i would askto not be a part of that experience because its morally wrong and thats how the Holocaust started. So to prevent such a thing happening again we need to think thru some stuff we do.
I agree with Juliette Lloyd that its hard to have refused to continue on after they had asked me to stop.
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