“The worst problem of all in any society is that the majority of human beings are sheeplike in their obedience and conformity to authority, even when they are instructed to commit acts that go against their real values and beliefs.”
Israel W. Charny, How Can We Commit The Unthinkable?
In the last few years, the majority of people complied with commands issued by authority figures which destroyed businesses and careers, regimented society, separated loved ones and families, wreaked havoc on the economy, pitted individuals against one another, heightened levels of stress and fear, and robbed us of irreplaceable time. What can account for this sheeplike obedience to authority? In this video, we are going to explore this question.
In the mid 20th century, the social psychologist Stanley Milgram asked a sample of Americans how they would respond if commanded by an authority figure to perform an action that would harm another. The overwhelming majority answered that they would disobey, and furthermore, predicted that on average only 2% of human beings would comply with the command. Most people, do not see themselves, or others, as sheeplike in their obedience to authority. Milgram put this idea to the test.
He constructed an experiment involving a “teacher” and a “learner”. The teacher was the test subject of the experiment, while the learner was a paid actor who was in on the experiment. The scientist directing the experiment, the authority figure, instructed the teacher to ask the learner a series of questions, and each time the learner gave an incorrect answer to push a button that would administer an electric shock of increasingly higher voltage to the learner. The shocks were fake, but the actor responded as if they were real and would cry out in pain, beg for mercy, pound his fists against the wall, and eventually mock unconsciousness. The conclusions of the experiment stunned Milgram. Although people like to think they would disobey commands from authority figures that conflict with their conscience, according to Milgram’s experiment approximately two-thirds of participants “fall into the category of “obedient” subjects” (Stanley Milgram, Obedience to Authority). They had the ability to stop the experiment at any point in time, yet they continued to comply with the requests of the authority figure and administer shocks to the “learner” at the highest possible voltage level.
“The results, as seen and felt in the laboratory, are to this author disturbing. They raise the possibility that human nature…cannot be counted on to insulate its citizens from brutality and inhumane treatment at the direction of malevolent authority. A substantial proportion of people do what they are told to do, irrespective of the content of the act and without limitations of conscience, so long as they perceive that the command comes from a legitimate authority.”
Stanley Milgram, Obedience to Authority
Historical events of the 20th century provide ample evidence to support the conclusions of Milgram’s experiment, as death and suffering on an unimaginable scale was the consequence of widespread obedience to the commands of totalitarian governments. In reflecting on what needed to happen to the German people in order for them to comply with the commands of the Nazi government, George Victor wrote:
“Unfortunately, nothing needed to happen. In nations across the world, people accept government crime.”
George Victor, Hitler: The Pathology of Evil
Or as CP Snow observed:
“…more hideous crimes have been committed in the name of obedience than have ever been committed in the name of rebellion. ”
C.P. Snow, Public Affairs
What can account for this obedience to authority displayed by the majority of people?
