Dr. Stanley Milgram 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; or is it a need to go along with the group? As some students watched the film
Obedience, they laughed at the people receiving the shocks. 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 some of the volunteers act as they administered the shocks? What pressures were placed on them as the experiment continued? How and when did they decide to stop? Did you identify with any of the volunteers you observed in
Obedience? What did you learn that you didn't know before you watched this film?
25 comments:
I think that trust encourages obedience and respect. The people who were teachers all trusted that the experimenter was responsible for all the outcomes so they trusted that whatever happened he was responsible. I think a desire to please is what gets people to go along with something just as the teachers did in the experiment.Their laughter was a natural reaction if you are a normal HUMAN being. It may not have been funny to hear the student yell but it could have been funny to see the teacher laughing in some cases. I think expressing relief that someone else is on the spot may cause you to laugh because if u were the one on the spot or in that position that the student was then you would not have been laughing unless you had no purpose in living and you did not care about life. Some volunteers died of laughter and some could not even go through with it. The pressure of having taken the $450 sort of said that they needed to go through with the experiment.
Personally, I think that the need to follow a certain group or amount of people paired with fear of punishment encourages obedience, yet does not result in respect of any kind. Take the Holocaust for example, or the film that we just watched, Swing Kids- the boys that joined the Hitler Youth program did so because of the fear of entering a work camp if they did otherwise. And in the case of the "Milgram Experiment", the men kept administering the shocks because they were simply following orders from the experimenters. The reason the "teachers" were laughing was just because it is a normal human reaction to a very tension-filled situation. They didn't laugh because it was funny, it was just an automatic reaction. As most of the people were administering the shocks, you could tell they felt very guilty for doing so- some reluctantly continued, but some decided they would stop and wouldn't hear otherwise. As they continued with the stronger shocks, they faced the fact that they may be hurting someone and could face responsibility for it, which is also when some decided to stop. I identified with the people who decided immediately to stop when they heard that the man was in pain because I could never continue to cause someone pain if I knew it could cause them harm. What I learned in this video that I was surprised at was that around half of the 100 "teachers" administering the shocks went all the way through with out ever stopping.
I believe that obedience is encouraged by trust or belief in a a specific person. i believe its a mixture of all three as one man in the experiment wanted to make sure the blame wasn't on him and he wouldn't be held accountable for his actions. I believe that is how a lot of people cope with the situation not because they're laughing at the people being shocked but rather as a way to make the situation more comfortable. In this case it is relieving tension for the shocker and a little bit relief that he or she wasn't in the bad spot. Some people just quit and weren't able to continue as they felt it was torturous. Others laughed off the situation and didn't have any major concerns in the other people involved. The test administrator reassured them and take the liability off them and said u have to continue and they had no choice. Most decided to stop when they heard what they thought to be a person in extreme pain and they wanted to get out. Also when they realized they had a choice on whether they truly were able to continue. i learned how cruel people can be and what they would do for money. I also learned how people cope with situations and how they react when they are forced into doing something.
I think that obedience is encouraged by fear. I think that it is a survival instinct. It is much easier for a person to do what they are told than to go against a figure of authority. I think that some of the people who watched the film in class today were laughing because they were using humor to cover the fact that they were nervous about what was happening to the person receiving the shocks. I think that the humor most likely was used to relieve tension. Some of the volunteers acted very nervous as they administered the shocks. Their backs were hunched over and they constantly kept looking back at the instructor to see if they should continue. A lot of them had their feet pointed closer to the exit than to the desk where they were acting as teacher. Animals often point their feet toward the direction in which they desire to go. This probably meant that the "teachers" desired to leave the room and sense they could not express it vocally, they expressed it physically. The "teachers" were often pressured by the instructor throughout the experiment. Every time they made some indication that they thought the experiment should end, the instructor was very clear with them. He told them "the experiment requires you to continue" and "you do not have a choice." The "teachers" who stopped the experiment part way through usually did so by affirming "I do have a choice." They usually did not decide to stop until they heard the "student" making sounds indicating physical pain and/or heart trouble. I did not specifically identify with any of the volunteers whom I saw in the film. I don't picture myself continuing with the experiment as some of the people did, but I can't be certain. I had already learned about this experiment in psychology class, however I watched a different film about it in that class and still learned new things through "Obedience." I did not know that many of the people affirmed that they actually did feel that had a choice whether or not to continue. I also did not know that some people administered the shocks all the way up and all of the way down the scale. This really, really, shocked me. I can never imagine myself administer that many shocks, even if the responsibility would not legally be on me. I would still feel the weight of my actions.
I think obediance is encouraged differently depending on the situacion, some could want approval and praise, while others could feel threatened and do it out of fear. If there is a punishment for not being obediant people could also use this as an excuse. In the Milgram experiment however, I think people followed instructions in order to help out in the experiment and because they trusted the doctor running the experiment. The apect of the docotr being in uniform might have comforted the "teachers" because it showed them that they are profesionals which means you can trust them. I think that some people laughed during the movie today because they felt uncomfortable with what was going on and they expressed this by a nervous laugh. I think some people in class were laughing because they were relieved it wasn't them who were getting shocked. Some of the volunteers were very serious while administering the shocks and you could tell they were ashamed of what they were doing. For example, body positioning and structure of many of the teachers was shamful, and bent away from the camera. Others laughed like some students did today in class, due to the uncomfortable atmosphere they were put in. There were several pressures placed on the "teachers" as they continued like, you are essential to the experiment, or you have to continue. Some of the volunteers stoped when they heard the man in the other room begging to get him out of there, while others unfortunately went all the way to the highest voltage and only stopped when the instructer told them to do so. I think if I were in this situacion I would have stopped after the begging of the "student" like the rest of them, because I would feel terrible if I caused them more pain. I learned that you ALWAYS have a choice in your actions and no one can make you do something.
I was watching open mouthed when one of the teachers, the one that asked if he is going to take responsility for the student inside the room and been told that he wouldn't. How he just turned back and worked regularly, and when he asks and the guy tells him to continue he continues. He wasn't even threaten by a gun or that his family will followed and killed or something like that, or he would be fired, no he was just sitting there the other guy telling him that he doesn't have an option just like that, the door to the room is right next to him, it's not even guarded he could've stormed in and checked on the student.
The experiment thought me that when a person is ignorant or lacking knowladge he becomes the easiest weapon I'm the hands of a knowledgable one. NEVER agree to something that you don't know about
I was watching open mouthed when one of the teachers, the one that asked if he is going to take responsility for the student inside the room and been told that he wouldn't. How he just turned back and worked regularly, and when he asks and the guy tells him to continue he continues. He wasn't even threaten by a gun or that his family will followed and killed or something like that, or he would be fired, no he was just sitting there the other guy telling him that he doesn't have an option just like that, the door to the room is right next to him, it's not even guarded he could've stormed in and checked on the student.
The experiment thought me that when a person is ignorant or lacking knowladge he becomes the easiest weapon I'm the hands of a knowledgable one. NEVER agree to something that you don't know about
I think someone who trusts the authority and someone who is possibly too shy to speak up to authority or not confident enough to do so. I would say a combination of both a desire to please and a need to go along with the group. Most people have a desire to please others as well as fit into the group; people will do some crazy stuff to fit in. Like we talked about in class, the laughter was merely nervous laughter because not every day do you hear someone being tortured so it often leaves the students awkward and helpless and subconsciously they laugh to release that feeling of helplessness. In this case I would say laughter is the body’s way of relieving tension because the teacher knows what he/she is doing but with the authority figure and adrenaline pumping laughter is the only escape. Some teachers were very strong willed and they immediately stood up to the authority figure because they knew that it isn’t always bad to stand up for what you believe and to be confident. As the experiment continued, the screams continued and on the other hand, the authority continued to pressure and persuades them. Most decided to stop the experiment when they believed the student was in serious danger and or the screams worked to their conscious. Although I was aware of this experiment before watching, I learned that many psychologists answered that they believed less than 10 percent would follow through with the shocks when interestingly almost half did.
I think obedience is encouraged by fear of punishment. Children are taught in school and at home, that when they misbehave, they will be punished. This idea was brought into this experiment. I think that laughter came from nervousness. In awkward and shocking situations, some people laugh to release the tension in the room and their nervousness. People laughing at the learner getting shocked, is a much bigger issue. Some of the teachers were hesitant with each shock, knowing that they are hurting another person. Some of the other teachers shocked the learner immediately when they got the wrong answer. No hesitation or regret involved. Each teacher was pressured with the fact that they could get in trouble for this. They are the ones administering each shock that could kill the learner. Just because someone tells you to kill someone, doesn’t mean that you have to. It also doesn’t mean that the responsibility won’t be on your shoulders. Most of the teachers stopped when the learner continuously complained about his heart. The last teacher did not stop, he felt obligated to continue. I learned that some people can not stand up for themselves. Each teacher had a choice to stop, whether they were being told so or not. I found it terrifying that these men would shock their peers, being told that it was “painful but not dangerous”.
I think that obedience is encouraged by a combination of trust, fear, and respect. I would say that it is a desire to please and a fear of punishment. People want to please their authorities and if they fail to do so, they fear consequences for not fulfilling their requested actions. The teachers’ laughter was just a natural human reaction that occurred because they were all put into uncomfortable and high-tension situations. They did not laugh because they thought what they were doing was funny, but because it was a way for them to relieve tension. As the teachers administered the shocks it was clear that they were becoming very uncomfortable and were very hesitant to shock the learner as the experiment progressed. The people running the experiment made them feel that their part in the experiment was essential and that quitting would ruin their experiment. As the teachers continued to give stronger shocks the learners began to yell and plead to stop the experiment. At that point, most of the teachers decided to stand up to the authorities and were very vocal on how they could no longer continue to put the learner through pain. From “Milgram Experiment” I learned how people will take extreme measures in order to please authority.
I believe that obedience comes from a desire to please those of greater importance or power. The volunteers in this experiment constantly question Dr.Milgram to make sure what they are doing is ok, because they felt that it would be disrespectful or improper to just stop in front of the doctor. When they hear the screams in the other room, the volunteers often laughed out of nervousness and anxiety, knowing that someone else was suffering on their account. People would laugh in class out of disbelief at the horrible situation and the uncomfortable reaction from the volunteer in the experiment. The volunteers in the experiment were constantly verbally pressured to continue, told that it was essential to the experiment to keep administer shocks, which put a great deal of stress and a lot of weight on the shoulders of the volunteer. Not to mention the fact that they were lead to believe the learner in the other room had a heart condition while being shocked in such a way. Some of the volunteers felt they had to stop after they heard the screams in the other rooms, a few earlier than others, because they would not consciously cause pain to another person simply for "science". For at least one of the volunteers, just the knowledge that they would not personally be responsible for the well being of the person in the other room was enough to encourage them to continue. The most important thing I learned from this video was that we always have a choice to do or not do something, and we are always responsible for the consequences of our actions, no matter how our decisions come to be.
I believe that the fear of being rejected and fear of punishment is what encourages obedience. Naturally, people are scared to go against the group and go against what they are being told to do, because they don't like the feeling of being rejected. The reason some students laughed was because it is a natural reaction to laugh when you are put in a nervous or awkward position, which is what we were all put in while watching the Milgram Experiment. I believe that in this case the most appropriate explanation of the laughter is expressing relief when someone else is on the spot, mainly because we were all happy it wasnt us being shocked for getting a ridiculous question incorrect. Some of the teachers acted differently. Some refused to continue to shock the students because they thought they were actually hurting them, where some continue to administer the shock because it is what they were being told to do. As the voltage of the shock increased, the teachers, in some cases, realized they could be responsible for any injuries caused to the student when they were getting shocked, which caused some of them to stop. The initiative of receiving $450 is what made some of the teachers continue to shock the student, as that was a lot of money back then. I identified with the teachers who stopped shocking the students when they realized it was actually very painful and could cause serious injury, as I would not be able to cause excruciating pain to another human being who I have nothing against. I learned from watching this film that people will do inhumane, terrifying things for a reward, and I learned what drives some people to cause pain to others.
I agree with Jon that in this case trust encouraged the men to keep going on with the experiment. Just like in the movie Swing Kids where the German people believed that the Jews did something terrible even though they weren't being told what. The people in this documentary believed that they were doing the right thing although they didn't know why. I think the reason why many of the teachers laughed during this film was because they were embarrassed and felt very uncomfortable. I feel like the reason many of the kids in our class laughed was because we are used to laughing at people when they are put on the spot.
What I think encourages obedience is that if you dont do what you are told you are doing something wrong. A higher power is telling you to do something and sometimes out of fear you cant say you dont want to do it, so you have to follow through with what they are telling you to do. I felt like the reason why people laughed in class today was out of nervousness because you dont know what to do with situations like that. I also think obedience encourages respect for the person telling you what to do. If you dont follow what you are told then your are being "disrespectful" no matter how wrong you think it is or how bad you feel you'll still follow through because of respect. I was shocked when one of the teachers kept going with shocking the student even when he stopped answering the questions, I felt as if he was forced to do something he doesnt want to do and you can tell that he didnt want to continue.
I believe that a persons obedience to an athority figure, or any other person for that matter is a result of fear, and not fitting in. Some people fear that they will be punished because they are not obedient, where others feel the need to be a part of a group, and the only way to do that is through obedience. The laughter of people watching the film could be a result of different things. The most important reason could be that they are unsure of what to say/think, so laughter is an imediate reaction to a situation. Some people tend to laugh when in a nervous or awkward situation, because its a rteflex that comes naturally to them. the most appropriate reason for this case of people laughing is a way of relieving tension. When people are nervous, their reaction is to laugh, to attempt to relieve some of the tension they are feeling. When volunteers administered the shocks on the other person, there were different reactions. Some people stopped the experiment when the shockee was begging to be released, even though they were told countless times to be obedient and continue with the experiment. Others tried to stop the experiment, but failed to because of obedience. They were afraid of what would happen to them if they abruptly ended the experiment. Some volunteers did not stop until they were told to which was when the "learner" had gotten all the answers correct. Others stopped the experiment as soon as the "learner" expressed signs of discomfort. I was shocked to see how easily a person will continue to do something they know they shouldn't be doing just because they were told to continue, and they had to show signs of obedience. People were so easily convinced that they were not responsible for what would happen to the "learner" and that they had no choice but to continue with the experiemnt. Also I found it surprising how easily others can rebel against obedience from others because they know that theres something they should not be doind, and that they have the choice to stop it.
I believe that a persons obedience to an athority figure, or any other person for that matter is a result of fear, and not fitting in. Some people fear that they will be punished because they are not obedient, where others feel the need to be a part of a group, and the only way to do that is through obedience. The laughter of people watching the film could be a result of different things. The most important reason could be that they are unsure of what to say/think, so laughter is an imediate reaction to a situation. Some people tend to laugh when in a nervous or awkward situation, because its a rteflex that comes naturally to them. the most appropriate reason for this case of people laughing is a way of relieving tension. When people are nervous, their reaction is to laugh, to attempt to relieve some of the tension they are feeling. When volunteers administered the shocks on the other person, there were different reactions. Some people stopped the experiment when the shockee was begging to be released, even though they were told countless times to be obedient and continue with the experiment. Others tried to stop the experiment, but failed to because of obedience. They were afraid of what would happen to them if they abruptly ended the experiment. Some volunteers did not stop until they were told to which was when the "learner" had gotten all the answers correct. Others stopped the experiment as soon as the "learner" expressed signs of discomfort. I was shocked to see how easily a person will continue to do something they know they shouldn't be doing just because they were told to continue, and they had to show signs of obedience. People were so easily convinced that they were not responsible for what would happen to the "learner" and that they had no choice but to continue with the experiemnt. Also I found it surprising how easily others can rebel against obedience from others because they know that theres something they should not be doing, and that they have the choice to stop it.
I think people wnt to just fit in and not stand out when we talk about encouraging obedience. People would have to stick there neck out to not be obedient nd people just want to fit into the crowd so they go long with what everyone else is doing. I think people laughed because they werent really sure how to rect to t he situation. People were nervous and it wasnt that people were laughing because it was funny, they were laughing because it was uncomfortable. The laughter in this film can most likely be associated to someone on the spot. They are defiently thankful thats its not them getting shocked so they laugh. Some of the people acted in a humane way in saying that they didnt want to administer the shock anymore and that it wasnt right to do this. Other people just kept giving the shock because they didnt want to be disobiedent. Some people stopped once they heard the screaming become louder and louder, while others didnt stop until there was no reply. I honestly didnt know that people could be persuaded so easily to just be obidient by higher officials.
I think that obedience is encouraged by a mixture of a fear of punishment, and a desire to follow a certain crowd. I think that the laughter when other people received the shocks was simply due to a feeling of dominance over the person as well as the feeling of not being under the spotlight for making a mistake. As they administered the shocks, some volunteers would show very much concern for the person because of the pain they were enduring and their pleas for the experiment to be ended. As the experiment continued, the volunteers were put under pressure because the shocks were becoming more and more severe, and the person receiving them would beg to be let out of the room, but the person administering the shocks would simply listen to the authority, which told him to continue with the test regardless. They would finally give in and stop the test when their fear for the person's safety overcame their desire to please the authority. I learned from this video that all humans, whether alone or in great numbers, have the same desire to fit in under the radar and obey the higher voice at almost any cost.
I think that there are many factors that encourage obedience depending on the people are that are involved. Maybe it is because they have trust and therefore are willing to be obedient, maybe it is because they feel threatened, or it could be because they are just very passive. During the Milgram Experiment specifically, I think that the teachers continued to shock the students because they were passive and did not feel that they could argue or have any other choice than to proceed with the experiment, even if it meant hurting the students. I think that the laughter could be from nervousness and releasing tension, or from shock and disbelief at how the teacher was reacting to the experiment. Also, it could have been because viewers realize the students were acting, yet the teachers were convinced and their actions were being controlled by another person. The volunteer teachers felt that what they were doing was wrong, although as soon as it was confirmed that they would not be held responsible for any injuries of the students, they followed through with the experiment and listened to their orders. The teachers felt pressured to continue flipping the switches and increasing the pain of the voltage shocks being given to the students, especially while listening to them beg to stop and complain about their health risks. The major lesson to be learned from this experiment is that in everything that you do, there is always a choice, and even if it means standing alone, do what you think is right.
Often obedience is encouraged by the people that surround one another. If there are consequences for ones action and they are aware of it they will more than often be obedient to the situation. This mostly results in the person being in fear of a punishment that may occur. The laughter was not because anything in the situation was funny often times it was a reaction to the people nerves in the situation. They were uncomfortable and nervous about what they were doing and in their minds they were most likely thinking about weather or not to stop. As a result of all these things going through their minds the people began to laugh. I believe in this case the laughing is both a sign of relief of tension and a sign of embarrassment for what the people may being doing. Most of the volunteers would shock the test taker like it was no big deal. Although they had felt what it was like to get a low voltage shock they still gave the other person a shock easily. However some people stopped shocking the other person once they relies that they were in pain. Once the testers wanted to stop they were told they couldn't this resulted in them being put in a bad situation and something that is hard for many to do. That was saying no and putting their foot down to stop what was being done. They often decided to stop once the tester was in great pain and when they finally decided to say no it seemed as the “teacher” felt as though he had lots of power and confidence. I learned that people no matter who they are there will always remain to be someone who is self absorbed and as long as they aren’t getting in trouble they will do what they are told especially when it comes to money.
I believe that obedience can be encouraged by trust, money, fear, or respect depending on the circumstance. In the Milgram Experiment we saw that it was mostly trust and money because none of the people feared Professor Milgram but they trusted him that the individual could handle the pain because he was view as an authoritative individual. In this setting there is no group to help persuade the teacher to shock the individual. The laughter seems to be a nervous laughter in the sense that they aren’t sure what they are doing is right but they are being told to do it by an authoritative figure. The laughter in our room came from a slight awkwardness the students felt because they didn’t know how to respond or think about what was happening but it didn’t seem serious enough for them to stay solemn. I think the laughter was more of a way to relieve the tension built up by hurting a man but being told to proceed in doing so. This would cause a lot of pressure on a person because they were told to do one thing yet their morals tell them otherwise. Some volunteers acted like monotonous and just told them they were incorrect, told them the voltage, then shocked them. Pressure is caused by opposite forces; the two opposite forces was the teacher’s morals and being told to go on after knowing the learner was not in a pleasant situation because of the teacher. They decided when to stop when their morals overcame being told, or being obedient, to shock the learner. I did not identify with any of the teachers because I was not watching the film trying to identify with them, I was more observing. I learned that sometimes I will not know what I have signed up for and it may be against my morals and therefore I will have to take a step back and evaluate the situation before even considering continuing.
i think obediance is encouraged by the need to go along with the group as well as the need to please. i think the laughter from the teachers wasn't because they thought it was funny but because they were nervous of what was happening to the other person and they didn't know really what to do. i think the explanation most appropriate in this case is a way of relieving tension.some of the administrators got angry when the person told them to keep going, even though the other person was yelling in pain.some of them tried to refuse to go on, but most of them finished the experiment. if i were the person giving the shocks, i would have stopped when i heard the person on the other side yelling and saying they were getting hurt.
in the Milgram Experiment I think the thing the encourages obedience is a need to go along with the group and the desire to please. The teachers were told they would not be responsible for the outcome which allowed no guilt of the teachers. I think the laughter was because people felt uncomfortable with what was going on.Some of the "teachers" would look over to the guy and see if they should keep going when they heard the "student" screaming, they all looked upset about what they were doing. The pressures came from the money they were going to get. They would decdide to stop when they heard the screams and the "student" yelled out to stop. I didn't know 50% of the people would just keep doing the experiment even though they were hurting someone.
I think obedience is brought up upon fear, trust, and respect. I beleive that with obedience, there is always a fear of not following orders and getting punised and having consequences. When it comes to the point wehre in the experiment where the teachers wanted to stop but the experiment guy told them to keep going because it was vital to the experiment and they kept going. I thought it was kind of sad that after the fact that they learned what the experiment was going to be shocking, they still managed to continue harming another human being. I think the fear of dissaopinting someone or not following orders and not impressing is always a fear that is in our head. In order to achive we must follow orders. But in that case we always have a choice in what we decide to do. We all realized that we all act a different way when it come to uncomfortable situations where we get nervous. That was the case for some of the teachers when it came to shocking a student. I think this experiment makes you realize a lot about yourself and it should be something that should be continued to be showed for the upcoming years.
I think that obedience is both fear of punishment and a desire to go along wth a group. In the milgram experiment, peer pressure had a large influence on how much pain people were willing to instill on eachother. This also contributed to the Nazis, as well as fear of having to go to work camps or worse as a result of standing up against them. I think that the laughter was a result of nervousness in the situation. I know that sometimes before I take a test and am really nervous, I laugh more than usual. The same with those that were administering the shocks. In the classroom, I think its more that people saw the person on the screen laughing that caused them to laugh as well. As they administered shocks, some teachers looked regretful and nervous however in the beginning when the shock was smaller some looked indifferent. As the experiment continued, Milgram put pressure on them and told them they could not stop. Some said they would not do it anymore but he encouraged them to continue. However, others took a firm stance and repeadetely said they would not longer continue, but only after many painful shocks had already been delivered. I didnt really indentify with any teachers because ive never been put in a situation like that, but I learned that many people are willing to hurt others as long as they dont think theyll be held responsible
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