Obedience: How far can you go?
I have been a psychology major for three years now, and in one more year I'll be finishing this course with a grateful heart. I have been studying various lesson that gives empirical, scientific, and objective explanations of human behavior, development, and personality. I have spent countless nights in giving focus on understanding it. This course might wreck my inner being but it made me realize how bitter-sweet, horrible, wonderful, and gruesome a person could be.
People are diverse, there is no such thing as completely the same, even twins are different. But you see, with all the topics I have studied I get fond of Milgram's Obedience Experiment. I don't want to shape your mind on how you will view the experiment so I will be giving you a link for you to explore.
How Would People Behave in Milgram’s Experiment Today? - Behavioral Scientist
How far can you go in the name of obedience?
I get fond of the study because it was originally conducted to examine Nazi behavior during the Holocaust. Were they the main murderers or accomplices? Is it justifiable to imprison a soldier who is just following orders? In the shoe of the Nazi soldier, how can they know that was wrong if they oath to protect their country and follow the orders of their leader? How can a soldier know if they were right or wrong?
Certain ethical issues were being raised when the experiment was being brought to light to society, but the reality is much more gruesome than that, how can we expose such reality if we conduct a mere experiment?
I felt on the verge of adrenaline as I learned this experiment. It made me think of many things. I supposed I have witnessed how far a man could go in the name of obedience, but because this experiment left me speechless, I felt I have known nothing.
People will follow orders mainly because they know someone will be accountable for what they have done or about to do, and if the orders are being superior to others they would perform the order to showcase superiority.
Not all participants in the experiments want to stop the experiment but there were who merely followed the orders and felt superiority over the learner.
Despite the success of the experiment, it will not change the fact that it gives extreme distress to the participant, but the unanswered question is, would people still be as obedient as before compared to now? what changes?
If you have read the experiment I have provided, what can you say? how far can you in the name of obedience? what are your reflections? I am dying to know the answers.
