Quotes-
- This goes to show how far human beings would go to appease an authority figure.
- Although obedience is a necessary ingredient for society to function. Milgram focused on the darker side of obedience.
I think this experiment was one of many important psychological experiments that served as a gateway into how a person functions in society when there is an authority figure. I believe this experiment was necessary despite the controversy and ethical dilemmas. This was especially important right after the second World War and Hitler’s reign. This short film reminded me of the Stanford Prison experiment by Zimbardo. The Milgram study and Zimbardo experiment were both very familiar and both of them focused on the darker side of obedience. They tested the extent of action encouraged by authority and both experiments have shown that authority has a high chance to corrupt a person whether willing or unwillingly. They would either follow orders when responsibility was in the hands of the authority or themselves become the corrupted authority. The Milgram Obedience study “showed how far human beings would go to appease an authority figure.”
Even though I did not watch the other experiment you are referring to, I do agree with what you are saying about people doing anything when the responsibility is given to the person with authority. In my post, I used the the second to last sentence as one of the quotes. The two quotes you used are important and help the audience understand what the video is going to be about. These two sentences are the main points of the video and is like a summary of the video. I liked how you linked the second quote to the entire experiment by putting it at the end of the paragraph.
Yancey Ko
Referring to Hitler is a good way to explain that how the violence and pain was a simple way to convince people during and after World War 2. And under the light of Hitler’s way to treat, Milgram carried out this experiment and showed how it impacts the obedience. I also selected the same second quote but did not noticed what you say about darker sides. Hence, I agree with what you discussed that through forcing, anyone can be moulded to any shape.
I actually watched this experiment in psychology class in high school and I agree that the Milgram experiment is reminiscent of the Zimabardo Stanford prison experiment. Though Zimbardo’s aim is to investigate how quickly people would adopt to their given roles in a role-playing situation that would mimic prison life, the two connect in the sense that participants readily accepted and conformed to their expected roles. Similar to Milgram’s experiment where “teachers” would stutter and laugh, those who were given the prison guard position in Zimabardo’s exercise had no problem taking orders from the warden, or the experimenters. I like the connection you made as I was reminded of Zimbardo, as well. It is true that humans can go to such lengths to appease authority figures, as we have seen in history when trying to appease Hitler as a method for preventing further damage and war.