Eichmann Endures
Lee on Dec 20 2008 at 5:06 am | Filed under: social science
Jerry Burger at Santa Clara University, has succeeded in partially replicating Stanley Milgram’s famous social obedience experiment, whereby test subjects torture strangers with electrical shocks when told to do so. Depressingly, mankind appears to remain as obedient to evil as he did during the Miligram experiment in 1961. In Burger’s new study, test subjects followed orders to inflict pain at maximum voltage 70% of the time.
Miligram’s original intent in devising his experiment was to test whether or not Adolf Eichmann’s defense –that he was only following orders as anyone else would– was credible. It was one of the more terrifying discoveries of the twentieth century that in his defense, Eichmann was at least speaking for the majority. Miligram argued in his agentic state theory, that the essential transformation Eichmann made was to perceive himself as an exclusive instrument to serve the wishes of another. Once he had done that, he was genuinely mystified how anyone could consider him responsible for his actions.
It’s always been even more troubling for me personally, that such high percentages of compliance could be achieved in the United States, using American test subjects. Historically, Americans tend to revere personal rebellion and individualism more than most cultures on Earth. If you achieve 70% obedience here, you should be able to achieve total social control elsewhere. It may be that man has not yet been visited by his worst and perfect despot.
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I’m always skeptical of the studies where people shock others. First… who is in the study? Did they volunteer? Did they volunteer without knowing what the study was going to be?
Those volunteering for the study are likely predisposed to feel as if they are supposed to at least try to do as they are asked by the researchers.
Perhaps they should get volunteers specifically for one thing, telling them what they will do something that won’t hurt people, and then ask them to hurt people… do they get the same results with compliance?
Also, volunteers are likely to believe on some level that the researchers wouldn’t let them do real damage, that what they are doing is important. Doctors, after all, frequently inflict incredible agony on patients in the name of healing them.