- What does this study imply about people's likely obedience to the government, regardless of what it demands?
- How does this experiment relate to Wiesel's experience as described in his memoir Night?
Saturday, May 24, 2014
After reading the article "If Hitler Asked You to Electorcute a Stranger, Would You?" by Philip Meyer, respond the following questions:
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1. From birth, we are taught to obey what our superiors request of us, without protest. To do anything else generally means punishment will swiftly follow. Perhaps it is a fear of punishment that we obey? Would you almost kill a stranger by electrocution if it meant you got off scot-free? I am sure many of us would. Also, sometimes a simple regime that promises to revive a failing country (NDSP) can become a tyrannical dictatorship, and you have already sworn your allegiance.
ReplyDelete2. In Night, many good, honest people have been pushed into punishing and even killing innocent Jews, with which many have no quarrel. They are in a "Sate of Agency," they may not view themselves as the ones responsible for their actions.
1.We obey our parents at home, our teachers at school, and our coaches during sports. Obedience is all around us. Like Milgram said, people obey because they are scared of what will happen if they don't or they will get a reward if they do. People will electrocute someone they don't know for money because they are told to and responsibility will not fall on their shoulders. People obey regardless of the outcome because that is what w have been taught to do.
ReplyDelete2. In Night, Germans obey whatever Hitler says because they were told that this is what must be done. They were taught that this is the right thing to do. The German soldiers carried out Hitler's orders, but they didn't hold themselves responsible for what they were doing. But obedience goes both ways. The prisoners obeyed the soldiers blindly because they knew there would be a punishment if they didn't.
1 we are always taught to obey when we are young you remember your mom always said to obey your elders meaning all people older than you like teachers, parents and family members older than you that is. The study suggests most people will obey the government due to the people being afraid of what the Government will do if they disobey. Or they obey if there is a reward that they give you. Random people would electrocute other people for money or because they had to obey.
ReplyDelete2 In the Night, all Jew caught by Hitler were sent to concentration camps and forced to work anyone who ran away or rebelled were shot down at sight. This only relates to the being forced to obey not getting a reward.
1. Obeying is in our blood, it's what we do. We obey because if we don't we are scared of what might happen if we don't and if we do we think that we may be awarded. When it comes to taking orders from the government we follow them because they are above our authority and have much power against us. We don't want to take the risk of not taking the orders or else we may be punished.
ReplyDelete2. In Night, Hitler's soldiers are all obedient to him because he is the ruler. He is their captain. They always do what is asked no matter what is is, because they think it is the right thing to do. Just like how the prisoners would always do as the soldiers told them because they knew that id they disobeyed they would be brutally beaten and most likely die.
1. We have been taught obedience all our life. Since we were kids are parents have taught us to obey, and when we obeyed we got rewarded. With disobedience we got punishment, and with that punishment we got the fear of disobeying. People have learned to obey or get punished and because of this we will obey and go to drastic lengths to follow orders from a person of authority as to not be punished or to get rewarded. People will obey authority with very few questions, if any, asked. The world will always obey authoritative figures and we will always obey either out of fear or for a reward. We obey the government because they are our authoritative figure, and we fear jail and fines. We may not like the laws the government puts into place but we still obey them because if we don't we will get punished, and just like when we were kids we fear the punishment that comes with disobedience.
ReplyDelete2. In Night, German soldiers kill innocent people just because they were told to. The soldiers might not of liked to kill these people but they were obedient to Hitler, the figure with authority, and out of fear or for a big reward theses soldiers went out of their comfort zone and killed thousands of innocent people. Obedience can also be seen in the prisoners in the book Night. The prisoners followed orders from the soldiers without question. They ran miles in a full sprint just because the soldiers said to. The obedience from the prisoners was different though because they were obedient out of fear.
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ReplyDelete1.
ReplyDeleteThis study implies that the root cause to people's likely obedience to the government is simply the fact that we respect the authority of the government. A respected authority builds trust in the people; and we obey who we trust. It's just human nature.
2.
This experiment relates to Wiesel's experience throughout his memoir Night. Nazi soldiers follow Hitler's movement because they trust him, (not necessarily his motives or methods). Just like the "Teacher" in the experiment, soldiers follow orders because they trust the authority.
On the other hand, Wiesel, a young teenager during the Holocaust, has no choice but to put his faith in his own tormentors. He goes into an autonomous trance, obeying every order given to him by the Nazi soldiers. He doesn't obey out of fear; he obeys because he doesn't know what else to do other than to obey the current authority.
1. People may believe if the government is doing something, it /must/ be for a good cause. Children are taught that if they disobey the authorities or if they even /question/ the authorities, they'll be punished, and that fear of punishment has been embedded into us.
ReplyDelete2. In Night and the experiment, Wiesel and the ‘teachers’ felt forced to do something by people that were above them. Wiesel and ‘teachers’ placed their trust in their superiors because they thought what they were doing was beneficial, either to them or other people. They rarely questioned their orders and were very obedient; although, the things they did were potentially harmful.
1.Why would we blindly obey what our government tells us? The answer is simple. We have been taught to blindly obey what our superiors have told us our whole lives. Whether it is our parents telling us to do chores or our teachers telling us not to cheat on exams, we have had to do exactly what our authoritative figures tell us to do without questioning why. We have been instilled with the belief that obedience is the most honorable virtue. That is why I firmly believe that most people would do as the government says because they believe they have no other option.
ReplyDelete2.In both the memoir and experiment people felt that they were obligated to act a certain way because they were commanded to by someone else. In the experiment, the teacher was instructed to continue the experiment despite the screams of protests of the man they thought they were electrocuting. They did not stop because they were told they couldn't. They obeyed orders even when someone's life could have been at risk. The same goes for "Night". There were multiple people in the novel who were following orders out of fear, respect, self-indulgence or some other reason. Elie and his family followed the orders of their prison guards because they would not survive if they did not. The prison guards followed the orders of their superiors because they could be at risk if they did not. Others acted that way because they believed it was what was right. The world is made up of both leaders and followers, but in certain situations people can switch their role.
1. This study implies that most people will obey their superiors, if they will not be blamed from anything that occurs. Therefore, people will tend to follow the government if they are not held responsible for their actions. In the written script of the experiment, we can see how the Teacher does whatever the Instructor asks the majority of the time, even though he doesn’t agree with what he’s being told to do. Milgram’s study has shown and proven that when there is a conflict between what people think they should do, and what they’ve been ordered to do, most people will resort to being obedient.
ReplyDelete2. This experiment relates to Wiesel's experiences by explaining why he was treated poorly by the other German people. The Study Guide mentions how the Nazi party rose to power due to Hitler saying the German defeat in World War I was no fault of their own, but a result of the Jews. This gave the Germans a person to blame, and provided a unification for the country. Even if some Nazi troops didn’t want to massacre the Jews, their superiors had ordered them to. This can also be supported by Milgram’s study, proving people are obedient. Wiesel himself was forced into doing the Nazi’s bidding, and overall being obedient to do what they ordered. However, the alternative to being obedient, would have meant certain death.
1. People will obey the government because of their over-powering control, just like in the classroom or at home. If someone is told to clean up their mess they do so because they will get in trouble if they don't. If a parent asks their child to take out the trash they do so because they authoritative figure in the situation is asking them to do so. People will obey the government like they obey their mentors and parents because it is the easiest way to do things and because they are fearful of what will happen if they are disobedient.
ReplyDelete2. Milgram's experiment relates directly to Wiesel's experience in his memoir "Night". The Jews are the learners and the Germans are the teachers. If the Jews do what the teachers tell them to do, they will stay away from trouble and out of pain. If the Jews disobey the Germans they will be ferociously lashed at by the Germans. So the Jews obey out of fear. They also obey because they are in a "State of Agency" meaning that obeying is the only and easiest thing for them to do seeing as it is the only thing they can do. If you combine fear and the "State of Agency" you can get almost anyone to do anything without question.
1. Milgram's study implies that people will always obey the government because they are put into a state of agency, as Milgram calls it. When the meaning of what you are asked to do is put in a context that convinces you to execute the task, you become this unstoppable machine performing whatever you have been told to do. This theory of complete control works because the responsibility is taken off your shoulders, since there are punishments for doing certain things as well.
ReplyDelete2. This experiment relates to Elie Wiesel's memoir "Night" because it tells of people both in a state of agency and a state of autonomy. The German citizens were under the impression that the Jews were to blame for Germany's loss of greatness and power. Wanting to believe Hitler's explanation because it gave them an enemy to blame, the citizens of Germany made Hitler the leader of their country. The Jewish prisoners in the concentration camps were very aware of what they were doing, however their obedience came from fear of being punished and not from a cause they believed in themselves.
1. Our whole lives, we have been taught to obey. To obey our parents, our teachers, our coaches, and anyone else with authority over us. The government holds the most authority in the country, and therefore we have learned to always obey them. This study implies that people feel no need to question what the government tells us to do regardless of what that is. After all, the government is supposed to have the country's best interest in mind, so why would we question them? Most people are afraid of what will happen to them if they do disobey the government. We have been taught to always obey the government no matter what, and we do so out of fear for what may happen if we do not.
ReplyDelete2. In "Night", the Nazis only torment the Jews because that was what Hitler told them to do. That was what their government told them to do. They believed Hitler when he told them that it was for the good of their country and so they followed his commands. Many of them most likely did not like what they were doing or what had become of them; however, they continued to follow Hitler's orders because they were afraid of what would happen if they did not. These men were taught to obey Hitler regardless of what he was asking of them. They never stopped to question him or themselves because they were just doing what they were instructed to.
1. The study implies that if a person with power or control over the situation. Can control a regular civilian who then will listen and carry out what ever the person wants. To give two examples the first being Wiesel experiment where the "Experimenter" had almost total control on what he wanted the "Teachers" to do to the learners. The next example is what we saw during the before and during the Holocaust. After WWI Germany was in sort of Great depression until Hitler came. After he came he started rallying the people because he had the authority and got everything under control. After he became the Chancellor he had power and with that final piece he had all the essentials he needed to manipulate the German people to do anything that he wanted and yet all the things he wanted them to do was terrible they believed that it was good because they by that time had full trust in their government.
ReplyDelete2. Wiesel experiments are about how people who fallow orders and do something that they don't really do like how the "Teacher" would zap the "Learner" and the "Experimenter said it would be fine and the person zapping would believe that. While his book "Night" is about him under the mercy of these people who are simply following orders of someone they trust and yet they commit horrendous atrocities that are described in the book. They relate because if you think of it as a coin the book is one side of the coin where it is him getting beaten inhumanly and Wiesel doesn't understand. While his experiment is the other side where he sees that those people where following orders and he saw that most of those people where manipulated in doing these things such as zapping the person even if they didn't want to do it. Think of it like two sides of a coin one which was the book where his tortured for unknown reasons because there is this hatred towards his people that came from no where. While the other side is his experiments where he sees why those people did it they were manipulated into doing it. The two sides of the coin put together equal this obedience that is what the relation is between Wiesel's experiments and his book people doing bad thing because they were very obedient to there leader/government.
1. This study implies that most people will do whatever they are told to do by an authoritative figure. Basically this study is implying that, if america were commanded by Hitler, then we would be murdering Jews without a second thought. Just like the Germans. This would normally horrify most people including our parents, but the thing is, our parents are partly the cause of this obedience. This is because we are taught, from the time we are born, to obey. Even though this is taught as a good thing, and the world would be chaos without it, everything can be turned into a weapon, even people.
ReplyDelete2. In the memoir, Night, many Germans are portrayed as evil, but they were just following orders. Wiesel's experience gives him every right to think of the Germans as evil, even though many people if they were in the same situation as the Germans would have done the exact same thing. This does not make them evil, it just shows how people are sometimes too obedient and do not take responsibility for their own actions.
1.Obedience is the act of obeying, and to obey is to do what someone tells you to do. The word obedience simply implies that we follow the rules and laws of society or anyone in authority. We have learned over time that the person with high authority can give orders or make decisions. The reason a person obeys is because he or she is afraid of the consequences or punishment.
ReplyDeleteThe study shows that the enforcer (experimenter) gains obedience up to a certain point. The teacher follows the experimenter’s instructions until the learner has endured so much pain that the teacher does not want to inflict more. Once the teacher was in the process of enforcing the rules and saw the learner in too much pain, he started to back out. The study can be related to government because when governing a community the person in authority gains the power of people to obey up to a certain point. The community believes the government has its best interest in mind and will follow all the rules and laws the government makes; however, some people may disobey the government authorities if they do not agree with their actions or consequences. Thus the study implies people are likely to obey the government until the demands become too great and outweigh the consequences.
2.This experiment relates to Mr. Wiesel’s experience in his memoir Night because he had to obey many officers in the concentration camp. If he did not obey them, they would have shot him on the spot. As in the article “If Hitler Asked You to Electrocute a Stranger, Would You?”, Milgram said, “people obey because they are scared of what will happen if they don’t or they will get a reward if they do.” Mr. Wiesel kept running and working for his freedom. Unlike Mr. Wiesel, some people disobeyed the officers. When they were told to run some were too weak or they would not follow orders. Officers would either shoot them or the people would fall to the ground to die. Mr. Wiesel knew he could not stop or he would suffer the consequences. Also, the officers, similar to the teachers in the experiment, must have had a hard time enforcing Hitler’s rules. They were told by Hitler to kill the prisoners, and I would think based on the experiment, although not said in Night, some officers would not be able to carry out killing innocent people.
1) Being obedient is second nature to us. This study implies that we've been taught to obey those who have the most power or authority over us. It is one of our basic instincts to listen to a command, because we are either too afraid to deal with the consequences or we want praise or a reward in return. So obeying the government? There would be no reason to ask them why we are carrying out a certain task. They are in control and that's how it's always been. As long as we aren't the ones who are responsible for the aftermath; we are compelled to do it. Because we know it's not our fault. Obedience is needed throughout the world, but it can be used in wrong ways.
ReplyDelete2) The Germans were interpreted as cruel and harsh; shooting anyone who disobeyed or beat anyone who opposed them. It is similar to Milgram's experiment because the Germans resemble the teachers and the Jews as the learners. The Jewish people obeyed the Germans because they were scared to face the outcome if they hadn't. But the Germans were carrying out Hitler's task to kill the ill, beat the weak. Some officers would be able to kill, because it wasn't their responsibility. Or it was out of uneasiness or profit. Others wouldn't be able to. This proves that people can be too obedient. No, more like controllable because it's that easy to use fear or bribery to have someone to do what you want.
1)The article "If Hitler asked You to Electrocute a Stranger, would you?" by Phillip Meyer discusses Dr. Milgrams's study in 1966 comparing the amount of obedience in American citizens to German citizens, the goal being to prove Germans were more obedient. The experiment failed in way because the American test subjects proved so shockingly obedient, Milgram deemed it pointless to finish. The people running the experiment seemed to have authority so subjects stopped questioning the tasks they were given. The study implied that this psychological phenomenon could be good, and might be essential to society today; this is extremely wrong. History has proved this by holding countless occurrences of the wrong person winding up with too much power, and causing a tragedy, for example Adolf Hitler and World War II. People found it easier to blindly trust and deal with the consequences later rather than to question and fight for what they believed was right. It's time people start questioning.
ReplyDelete2)This experiment relates to Elie Wiesel's experiences he recounted in his famous memoir "Night" as a Jew in a concentration camp in World War II because Hitler would have never been in such a high position to cause a war as horrific as this one if it hadn't been for Germany's careless obedience towards him. The country was so desperate for redemption, it dug itself a deeper grave in its attempts to get out, and graves for thousands of innocents as well. This experiment also relates directly to Wiesel himself because he had to obey Nazis everyday without thinking about how gruesome the task may be, or he'd be severely beaten or even killed for not being fast enough. However, the difference between Wiesel and the subjects of the experiment is that for him is was a matter of life or death, while the experimental subjects had no threat. That is the most disturbing part.
1. As kids we were taught to always obey our parent or other adults. If we didn't, their were usually consequences. Once the kids grow up they obey the government. They do whatever the government tells him to do including paying taxes and obeying the laws. If the government told a citizen to kill another citizen, they would do it without blinking. They are more afraid of what will happen to them if they don't kill the citizen than the fear of having the guilt for the rest of their lives.
ReplyDelete2. In Night, the Germans obeyed Hitler because they were told to by their government. They would do everything Hitler asked of them even if that meant killing someone. They actually believed it when Hitler told them this was going to be a good thing for their country. So the Germans went on obeying Hitler and killing jews without taking any responsibility for their actions. The jews obeyed the Germans because they were afraid. They were afraid of the Germans and what they might make them do, but they were more afraid of what they would do to them if they didn't obey them.
Hello all! Hope you are enjoying your summer. I am impressed by the thoughtful comments that many of you are making on this Blog. Many students are talking about obedience and a person's tendency to obey authority, even when asked to do something immoral or wrong. So, I'm wondering. Do you think the Nazi soldiers should be held accountable for their actions? For the murder of innocent men, women, and children? Should they be responsible for their actions when they were just following orders from their superiors? What do you think?
ReplyDeleteSee you in a few weeks! Enjoy! Mrs. Smith
Hi Mrs. Smith! In response to your questions about our thoughts of Nazi accountability, I can only say that every answer is neither correct nor incorrect. There is always going to be more than one piece to the puzzle, and depending on what "pieces" have been revealed to us, we are resolved into believing a story that matches the information each of us holds.
DeleteI think that there are some Nazi soldiers that should be held accountable, but not all of them. The problem is that it is nearly impossible now to sort out the people who really meant the cruelty being inflicted on the Jews, and those who only did it to save their own lives.
I see it this way because I have read other stories with remarkably similar situations in them. Not only does how much information we hold affect the way we perceive instances such as this one, but also the media and past experiences all of us have had.
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DeleteHey Mrs. Smith,
DeleteThe Nazi soldiers were told to keep control of the Jewish people and even kill some of them. A lot of other students talked about obedience, consequences, and if a person would kill to save themselves. If some of the Germans thought that this was really wrong; they should not have obeyed Hitler. So to answer your question, yes, i do think the Germans should be held responsible for their actions.
Hi Mrs. Smith,
DeleteIn response to your question about the Nazis accountability for their actions, I would hold them liable for the deaths they caused. In the words of one of Hitler’s German officers, “Now that I look back, I realize that a life predicated on being obedient and taking orders is a very comfortable life indeed. Living in such a way reduces to a minimum one's need to think.” Thinking and using our brains capacity is one of the quality’s that makes humans so unique and allows us to evolve. If we stop thinking and just follow orders, we are losing the very aspect of our being that makes us human and we are reducing ourselves to useless servants. Following orders and being self-sufficient is a choice, a difficult choice but one we must make almost every day. It can be argued that the Nazis were following orders out of fear but as humans if we act in fear and not out of moral value, what good is acting at all? It was not Hitler who killed all those men women and children all by himself, it was his loyal followers who must also be blamed and held accountable for their actions.
The Nazi soldiers should be held accountable for their actions because while orders may be orders, you will always have a choice in the matter. If the President of the United States came up to you today and told you to kill an innocent bystander, you wouldn't do it would you? Well, this is essentially what the Nazis did . They killed thousands of Jews for basically no reason except the goal of achieving racial purity, which is the most disturbing and psychotic concept I've ever heard of, and this is not excusable whatsoever. The Nazis would have been able to decide where their actions fell on the moral compass. No matter how high the authority figure who commands you is, or how many people are telling you it's right, in the end the decision is yours, and yours alone.
DeleteHi Mrs. Smith!
DeleteIn response to your question, I do believe the Nazis should be held accountable for their actions even though they were just following their authorities. One of them could have stood up to the authorities and asked why they were killing all these innocent women and children for no good reason. The Nazi soldiers ruined many lives and families during their attacks and they never got punished by the German Army for their behavior. Obeying authorities can sometimes cause damage and can sometimes help people; it all depends on the situation. In this case the Nazi soldiers killed a lot of innocent men, women, and children they shouldn’t have.
When I first read your questions, Mrs. Smith, I initially thought, “Of course! Each soldier should be punished to the furthest extent!” But later, when I starting to think deeper about what you asked, I began to question myself. How am I to judge another person’s actions without ever having been in a situation even remotely similar to theirs? What kind of threats can turn an average person into such a hideous soldier? Perhaps they were threatened with their own lives or the lives of their family members. I have never been faced with such dilemmas, so how can I judge another person’s response to such a situation?
DeleteDon’t get me wrong: by the end of WWII, there were definitely men who deserved the worst of all punishments. But for other soldiers, until I experience the circumstances that changed ordinary citizens into heartless torturers, I feel that I am unable to judge their actions.
1. We begin to obey authority figures before we can talk, rather that be parents, older siblings, babysitters, or teachers. This habit continues into adulthood and to death. One obeys typically out of fear of the consequences that may follow if he or she does not. This idea is the reason that people obey the government. If we don't comply with the demands of our government, we will receive consequences. It is out of the fear of these consequences that we obey anything the government asks of us.
ReplyDelete2. In Night, the Germans were simply following orders, just as the "teacher" was doing in the experiment. In the experiment, the teacher was described as innocent and naïve, where in Night, the guards were viewed as evil. The "teacher" and the guards were both doing the same thing: following the orders. Does this make the guards as innocent as the "teacher" was described as? No. I don't believe that obedience is a justifiable excuse for killing the innocent.
1. We learned how to obey others before we even knew what obedience was. Although the word obedience was never really brought to our attention, we learned to be polite and listen to others. Further into our lives we continue to use the very skills we inherited from our parents doing and use them to independently cooperate in the world. The reason most of us are obedient to our parents is because we trust them. We trusted them since the day we were born because they were the ones who harbored and took care of us. The same idea goes with the government because they are the ones who protect us from outside forces that want to hurt or endanger us. That to develops trust which evolves into obedience. This study shows that if people are going to trust the person that is instructing them on what to do, they will listen. It all depends on how much they trust the person though and how obedient they are. If the person is obedient they will follow through the entire shock process, but if the person is not as obedient they stopped and had mercy for the person being shocked. The main aspect of this study is ones trust to the government.
ReplyDelete2. This experiment can relate to Elie Wiesel's memoir Night because they both are about World War II and the people affected by it. In Night, Elie and his family were shipped to Auschwitz and were treated very poorly by Germans. Most German soldiers were in the army voluntarily to support their country because they trusted Hitler and his actions. The reason they trusted Hitler was because he he their leader who protected them from outside countries who wanted to harm them. Most Germans were probably taught the same basic principles we learned as kids which was to listen and respect others. When they Jewish prisoners were being transported pass a German town, the civilian were not surprised by the living conditions they had to live with but amused by how much they wanted food. Most of the people agreed with Hitler because they trusted him, and with trust they also obeyed him as in the experiment people obeyed their boss.
1. After reading the title of the article, "If Hitler Asked You to Electrocute a Stranger, Would You?" I would be willing to bet that almost everybody thought to themselves: no way. Everyone probably said that there would be no way that they would do Hitler's bidding. How do you know that though? How do you know that if you were put in that circumstance that you would defy a man who does not have any problem killing you? We are all instilled with a sense of obedience that we cannot ignore. Even if you're asked to do something you really don't want to do, you will still do it with a good enough reason. This article implies that since we have known the government to be a superior force to us our whole lives, we will obey it, even if we don't agree.
ReplyDelete2. This article relates to "Night" because you start to look at everyone involved in a very different way. You begin to wonder why they were doing what they were doing. Besides looking at them as just Nazis, you begin to look at them as men with an obedience to someone they trusted. They might have not enjoyed, or agreed with some (or most) of Hitler's decisions, but they trusted in their leader and that sense of obedience ,which we all have, kicked in. I'm not trying to say what any of them did was right, or what Elie experienced was any less horrifying. The point is that there is always different ways to look at every story. There is a line from the musical Wicked which I think is very overlooked, "There are precious few at ease with moral ambiguities, so we pretend they don't exist." I think this really speaks to the article because it is so true. We find these situations so uncomfortable, where we question our beliefs and challenge our conscious, so we just pretend that we shouldn't have to face the moral battles raging around us. I believe that many of the Nazis probably just turned a blind eye to the horrors of their work so that they didn't have to feel the conflict of their conscious versus their obedience.
1. Fear is the most powerful emotion. People will do outrageous things out of fear; therefor, governments and powerful authorities alike can manipulate others to great lengths. We Fear the unknown; which in this case is the act of not following orders. Obedience is key in any household or government, yet sometimes we ignore the bigger picture of rite and wrong. The government has the power to instill obedience through punishment; however, the study shows how easily one will obey.
ReplyDelete2. The “teacher” and the Nazi guards play very similar roles. Other than the obvious difference between the situations; neither recognizes the long term damage but instead the current moment. Firstly, they both follow orders from authorities above them with little push back. Secondly, they agree that the blame is not on their shoulders but the ones who have ordered them. Thirdly, they don’t tune into what they are feeling weather its rite or wrong; as a result, they fail to make reasonable and moral decisions. There is no excuse for killing children and families like the Nazis’, yet the experiment proves the willingness within most all of us.
1. As humans we react to situations due to previous experiences that we have been exposed to in the past. We respond by doing what we have been taught and what we have learned over our life experiences. Most people are raised to listen to authoritative figures, such as their parents. So, out of instinct, we tend to listen and obey others in command, in this case, the government. When it comes to situations where we are told to do something that will harm another person, or even a group of people, we listen out of fear. We feel that we need to listen because they are placed in a position of power. The government holds that exact power, leaving us the need to be more cautious and aware of how much we control ourselves and our own choices.
ReplyDelete2. In Elie Wiesel's memoir "Night," Eliezer is put into positions where he is forced to do things he wishes not to do but must in order to survive. His emotions are very similar to the "teachers" who took part in the shocking experiment. Although they felt uncomfortable and wished to stop, they were urged to go on by the "experimenter". In "Night," the Nazis' force the Jews to do and undergo many horrible things with extreme punishments if they were to disobey their commands. This is another example of how we are driven to follow commands from someone with superiority over us out of fear.
1. This study implies that people are unable to not perform a task received by a superior authority. Possible factors of this are because of the fear distilled upon the authority, the need to satisfy said authority, or from fear of disciplinary action if said task is not completed. Not only is obedience is a taught trait, but its also human instinct.
ReplyDelete2. The study and the memoir are somehow similar. The study shows that sometimes people do certain tasks even if they are uncalled for or morally challenging. 65% of the teachers from New Haven obeyed the experimenter and continued to up the voltage even though they saw the distress caused on the learner. Eliezer Wiesel also did some things to satisfy the greater authority. He marched, ran, undressed, ate all because someone told him to. He was also told to give someone his gold crown on his tooth.
1. The data shows that from an early age we are influenced by an obedience factor. Our parents teach us early that we are to do as we told by and overseeing superior no matter if we like it or not. As we age, our obedience is directed more to the government, as our human nature begins to act along with our obedience. We learn to become scared when we do not obey, and learn that reward sometimes follows, like a treat to a well taught dog, clouding our own free choice.
ReplyDelete2. The experiment relates to Wiesel's experience in many ways. Dog like obedience the main topic of the experiment, and even in the book, fellow Jews follow the same obedience. What with the stronger men that survived the first selection, to then be chosen to have to kill the weak, or even the prisoners with Wiesel being told to give up what they had at the camp to the superior inmates, and being beaten into submission when they said a simple no. It was just a simple pattern for the prisoners: Obey, submit, obey... Even in the experiment, ordinary people, not prisoners motivated by pain and suffering, but normal people who were not given anything other than an order to complete the experiment did as they were told.
1) A synonym for obey is respect. Everyone of us believes that we should have respect be given to us by others, so maybe, as the golden rule explains, this is why we give respect, or obey, others. As the study shows, the Teacher continues to obey the Experimenter because he fears that if he doesn't, the Experimenter will lose his respect and punish him, because he has higher authority. This relates to us and the government because we know that the government has a higher authority. Therefore, in fear of disrespect and punishment, we continue to obey it.
ReplyDelete2) The memoir, Night, is similar to the experiment because people in both obeyed others with higher authority. In Night, the prisoners continued to obey the guards, and the guards continued to obey the orders from Hitler because they feared punishment, just like the Teacher in the experiment. Also, the Germans who had orders to kill the Jewish prisoners did it and didn't take the blame because they simply were taking orders from a higher authority.
1.Order and power go hand in hand in any successful organization such as a club, class, or government. Having too much order and obedience can cause an increase in power to the leader of a group which in turn can destroy the order if the rest of the organization revolts. Our world is made up of leaders and followers by nature and simply by instinct. In the article “If Hitler Asked you to Electrocute a Stranger Would You?” by Philip Myer, an average human’s obedience is tested in a study by Stanley Milgram. During the test it is made clear that humans are more obedient than we like to believe; which reflected in the test when one stranger electrocuted another by the orders of yet another stranger. Although this news is somewhat concerning, couldn’t we have predicted the results? Our government tells us what to do every day when we halt at a stop sign or pay our taxes. Being told what to do is easy and as Americans we like easy. The American society has evolved to create an easy car filled lifestyle for its citizens, easy food, easy traveling, and easy entertainment, all of which would never be possible if we refused to follow orders. Obedience isn’t a bad thing either; on the contrary, it is one of the only reasons we aren’t in a constant state of war and conflict. So whether we like to believe it or not being obedient is the key to the society we live in and the ease with which we prefer to reside in.
ReplyDelete2.Of all examples of obedience in the world’s history, Hitler’s power over the German people and their willingness to do as he commanded was one of history’s most outstanding examples of obedience. Hitler would never have accomplished all the horrible acts that he did if it were not for his loyal followers that ran his concentration camps and ghettos throughout Germany. In Elie Wiesel’s memoir “Night,” Wiesel describes his traumatic experience in the concentration camps as a Jew during the 1940’s. In Stanley Milgram’s experiment about obedience it was made evident that humans are extremely obedient and will do almost anything when ordered to. This form of exaggerated obedience that was drilled into humans was evident to Wiesel as Germans took helpless Jews to the concentration camps to be burned to death or shot for the satisfaction of one man. It is no surprise that the Nazis were willing to do as they were told for if one stranger is willing to harm another in the 21st century who’s to say they would not go all the way and kill another person if told to by a powerful leader. Men, women and children were no longer looked upon as human to the Nazis but rather as impure beings waiting for inevitable death which they would ultimately ensue. No one in the concentration camps tried to act out for they knew that the Nazis were following orders and to the Nazis, their orders meant their own avoidance of death.
1. When growing up we are taught from a young age to be obedient, to respect authority and our highest superiors. In implying that to the experiment, people's likely obedience to the government is that we know that they are putting in the best interest for us so we would listen to them regardless of the task. We know that the government is at the highest power and we are more afraid of what would happen to us if we did not obey so we are obedient to them. It is in our second nature as humans to be obedient especially to our authority.
ReplyDelete2. This experiment as Wiesel's experience in "Night" has relation because in doing so the Jews obey the orders of the Nazis because they have the power in which the Jews were afraid of what would happen if they did no obey. They were told that this situation was for a good reason and they may have not liked what they were doing and or who they have become, but it was because of the fear of what would happen if they did not obey that they did listen. For instance like the experiment the teacher obeyed the experimenter who had the authority.
1. In this experiment, people committed a wrong act even though they knew it was wrong. Had they been in their right minds, they would have acted righteously, and refused to electrocute the innocent. They would have felt remorse, but they didn’t because of the unassailable being in their presence. The subjects didn’t feel any remorse because this commander was pretending to be their conscience; he was able to play the subject’s mind like a video game, not that he had to do much work to get that kind of control. The subject was raised to obey; that’s what he was taught and that’s what he knew. So the subject already believed that this authority, this sure-footed leader, was the righteous part of his mind telling him to go forth with what he couldn’t comprehend as wrong at the time.
ReplyDelete2. In Elie Wiesel’s experiences, he is just like Mr. Wallace. Wiesel was innocent and unwillingly damaged even when he wanted the pain to stop. The Germans are just like the subjects. They did not receive answers to why they had to kill thousands, but they did because they loved their leader and trusted him to know what was right, even if some of them were conflicted within themselves. Their thoughts were recessive compared to their leader’s who’s were dominant. Hitler, the leader, was played by the Experimenter. The Experimenter cast his mind and used his subject’s body to get what he wanted, and it worked, just like it did in Night.
1. As it is pointed out in the article, humans are taught to obey since they're very little by parents, teachers, and eventually the government. We know that if we follow orders then we will get rewarded, but if we don't then we will be punished. So obedience to the government is only natural for humans. The study implies that, even though the natural obedience to government may lead to horrible events, the outcome of disobedience would create a world of chaos.
ReplyDelete2. In the experiment the test subject is told they will be paid $4.50 no matter what. In Night, the prisoners are punished for not obeying. The soldiers believe that if they obey Hitler, their country will become prosperous. How could any of them not obey? It's been programmed in their minds to obey virtually since they were born.
1. As a children and young adults, we have always been pretty much required to be obedient. At home we are expected to do what our guardians ask us to, and at school we are usually on an even better behavior for our teachers. Most kids and teens would not treat their teacher the way they may sometimes treat their parents only because we are not comfortable enough to do so and we are afraid of what the punishment might be. A punishment at home seems like a piece of cake compared to a punishment at school. The same goes with the government, most people obey the laws because punishments enforced by the law are alot more extreme than a punishment you might get from your parent.
ReplyDelete2. Elie Wiesel was expected to obey the orders given to him by the German soldiers and if he didn't, the punishments were very extreme sometimes even death. Which is why he didn’t have a desire to rebel against the Germans. However, if his fellow Jews wanted something from him he would give them a harder time because he knew that their retaliations would not compare to the German punishments.
In the Western world, we are under the false pretense that our opinion counts, and that we are all independent, free-thinking individuals who serve purpose. The experimenter could talk many into doing the unthinkable: killing a total stranger. That implies how weak willed we as a nation really are, and how far we will go just because a higher authority tells us. Granted, not many did it without a fight, but this experimenter was highly persuasive with his $4.50. He was astonished 45 years ago, but I think if we did this study today, more could be talked into electrocution.
ReplyDelete2. Hitler basically did his own experiment with the Hitler Jugend and the Nazis. He got a whole nation to obey him, and more. Of course, there was resistance, but in the end, more decided to go ahead and obey, regardless of the demands. Many did not know how far it would go, but it's the same with the Yale experiment. Same with the Jews: they didn't want to be sent to internment camps, but through degradation, many lost their will and just went along with the officer's orders.
1. This study implies that people will act obedient to people or things that prove to be trustworthy and legitimate. For the most part, if one believes that they are working towards a seemingly justifiable goal, that person would go to great lengths to achieve this objective. People believe that the orders given by a government are justified, so individuals somewhat, blindly follow. If our government told our military to go into an innocent country to kill and capture citizens because this country may or may not attack us, our military most definitely would. Though some soldiers and citizens would disagree and protest, the military would continue to obey the orders of our "trustworthy" government. I place quotes around "trustworthy" because based on the study, who's to say that the government is trustworthy? We've been raised to obey our government and believe that it is trustworthy, so if it ever entered a state of corruption in which morals lack, the people would enter a "state of agency" in which they no longer have morals, they just have orders to obey. We would obey our government regardless of the demands because we believe it's legitimate and reliable, and if blame was ever to be assigned we wouldn't hold ourselves responsible because we are simply "executing another one's wishes".
ReplyDelete2. This experiment relates to Wiesel's experience described in "Night" because in the memoir, the Nazis did unthinkable things in concentration camps, because they believed that these heinous acts they took part in were for a justifiable purpose. Wiesel describes some of the cruel acts the Nazis performed in these camps, one being the cruel deed of dumping young children into a crematoria. Though this is a sick and awful crime the Nazi felt that it had to be done. He obeyed his orders to kill the children, and every other person he murdered, because Hitler said that by doing so, it would make Germany a better place. The Nazis showed little remorse and obeyed Hitler because, they thought it was all for a justified and legitimate goal.
1) Are most people likely to obey the government regardless of what it demands? Or are people who obey just part of a "pathological fringe"? Milgram's study implies that a surprising number of people would follow commands from the government, especially when certain conditions are met. There are certain conditions that the Experimenter set up which caused a higher proportion of people to obey. These conditions were altered depending on where the experiment was taking place. An example of one condition that was set up, was that the more official the command appeared to be, the more people obeyed. When the experiment was taken to Yale University, 65% of people obeyed the commands given to them. "The people obeyed because of the prestigious setting of Yale University. If they couldn't trust a center of learning that had been there for two centuries, whom could they trust.” The next condition set up by the Experimenter was that people were more open to obeying the command when the command is explained as serving a higher good. At Yale University the experiment was explained as research to advance educational methods and how people learn. When the experiment was moved to an untrustworthy setting like Bridgeport, only 48% of people obeyed the commands given to them. To make this experiment seem official Milgram did a couple of things. For example, the Experimenter wore a grey lab coat which appeared to be "ambiguously authoritative", instead of white which looked medical. Milgram also created the "shock generator". To make the people in Bridgeport think that this experiment was serving a higher good, they explained the experiment as being research on Industry. The one thing that every person involved in this experiment had in common was that they were operating under what Milgram calls a "state of agency." This means "one who acts for or in the place of another by authority from him; a substitute; a deputy." The results of this experiment imply that "the kind of character produced in American democratic society, cannot be counted on to insulate its citizens from brutality and inhumane treatment at the direction of malevolent authority." A large number of people obey commands as long as " they perceive that the command comes from a legitimate authority."
ReplyDelete2) This experiment relates to Wiesel's experience as described in "Night" in many ways. Each of the people in the experiment relate to someone in the memoir in some way. The Learner represents the Jewish people in the concentration camps along with Wiesel himself. An example of this is that in both cases they have to obey the commands given to them or there will be consequences. For the Leaner, it was the shock. For Wiesel and the other Jewish people it was a beating or death. The Teacher relates to the Nazi soldiers executing and beating the Jewish people in the concentration camps. For example, when a Jewish person did not obey the command given to them by the soldier, the soldier would have to kill or beat them. In the experiment when the Learner did not obey the command given to him by the Teacher, the Teacher would have to shock them. In both cases, they are only following orders given to them by a higher authority. In this experiment the Experimenter relates to Hitler. Just like Hitler, the Experimenter is giving all the commands but isn't actually doing any of it himself. In both cases they are also convincing the Teacher (soldier), that what they are doing is for a greater good. In conclusion, this experiment relates to Wiesel's experience in "Night" in many ways.
1) Milgram's experiment helps demonstrate the blind obedience of most individuals to an authority figure, regardless of the consequences. This obedience may be for a few different reasons. Perhaps the individual fears punishment. Maybe they are simply following the path of least resistance and only want to get the job done. It could even be that the will to obey is an old instinct, within everyone, that helps keep society running smoothly. No one would ever get anything done if we questioned everything we did. As most people view their government as the highest authority in their life, the compulsion to follow it is especially strong. Many people would do anything ordered to them from such a high authority; even if they felt that what they were doing was immoral, they could just pass the blame off onto the government in order to escape the guilt.
ReplyDelete2) In the memoir, "Night" by Elie Wiesel, Elie faced both mental and physical torture at the hands of the Nazis. While most people could never imagine doing some of these things to another human being, Milgram's experiment did shed some light on the matter. The Nazis were under the influence of Hitler, who at the time seemed like an unstoppable force that would restore Germany to it's former glory. According to Milgram, the popular opinion at the time was that the Germans were mentally different from other races, and this is what made them so obedient. However, after his experimenting, Milgram found the same obedience in most people. This evidence disappointed Milgram greatly, but it did also help explain how people can do such terrible things at the command of others. It also raises the question, if Hitler had asked you to electrocute a stranger, would you have said no?
1. From the study we learn the as people we tend to do whatever a more supreme individual tells us to do. As children we learn from a young age to respect and obey our elders. If not at home we should be even more obedient to our teachers, coaches, and elders. If we don't listen or obey it can be assumed by us that a punishment is coming. As we age it becomes that the highest authority we should respect is the government. We should oblige by their rules, and we must do so or the consequences could be high. For most people this is natural because we were taught to always follow the rules, and it's an easy thing for our daily lives.
ReplyDelete2. In the memoir, "Night", Elie Weisel is forced to take multiple orders from Nazi soldiers. It may seem to most people that the tasks the Nazi were given to do were unethical. Although it was wrong the Nazi were under the authority of Hitler. If they did not carry out the tasks they would be punished just like the soldiers. The acts the soldiers carried out seemed justifiable to them because Hitler told them to do so.
1. After reading the article “If Hitler Asked You to Electrocute a Stranger, Would You?” by Philip Meyer, it has forced me to look at obedience in a different way. I have always made an effort to obey and respect my authority. All children are taught this from a young age. We obey our parents out of trust, respect, and fear of punishment. We obey our teachers because they reward us with a good grade. We obey our coaches out of respect and because they are masters of the sport. But what if your parent told you to lie? What if your teacher told you to cheat on a test? What if your coach told you to hurt an opponent? Stanley Milgram’s experiment about human obedience shows that no matter what they demand, most people will obey someone of authority. Obeying a parent or teacher is one thing but obedience to your government is portrayed as a very noble act. If the President of the United States asked you to kill a stranger you would feel proud to be chosen by someone of his stature before considering if it was right or wrong. Obedience to your government is certainly very important in the success of a nation. Without it there would be no order, no strong country to call home, just chaos. Milgram’s experiment implies that our utter obedience could be taken advantage of by the government. Sure, they could tell us what to do, but we all have free will. Although you may think someone has power over you, they can’t make decisions for you. You don’t have to do what they say. It was not up to Hitler weather his solider beat an innocent man. That solider could have refused and walked away. Yes he would have been punished, maybe he would have felt like he was betraying his country, but is it worth standing for anything that you don’t agree with and could harm others?
ReplyDelete2. Milgram’s experiment relates to Wiesel’s experience in the memoir Night in multiple ways. We know that Hitler’s men obeyed him and did some horrible things. But because the book was written from Elie’s point of view, we weren’t exposed to the internal conflicts that could have been going on within their minds. Not all of them could possibly have enjoyed burning innocent people, but something kept them obedient. Weather it was fear, loyalty, or any other reason; it will never be enough to justify the terrible acts they committed. Also, despite their awful conditions, the Jews showed obedience to the ones who slaughtered their families. They obviously didn’t agree with the Nazis, but because they had authority over them, they ran when told, they worked when told, they undressed when told, they gave up their possession when asked for them. Not only did the Nazis have a sense of authority over the Jews but they also instilled fear into their minds. If the Jews didn’t obey they were beaten or even hanged. Fear of pain and fear of death is what most likely kept the Jews obedient. It was much harder to disobey as a Jew than as a Nazi soldier.
1. The study implies that Americans are not unlike Germans, and are willing to go to great lengths to complete an act that is ordered of them by a respected authority, and for reasons they are told are just. Although people are likely more obedient than we would prefer to believe, I think there is a big difference between being ordered to kill someone and to administer a supposedly non-dangerous shock.
ReplyDelete2. The experiment shows how willing people are to obey an authority figure. In the memoir Night the soldiers obey the government in the collection and killing of the Jewish population in Europe, and in likewise the Jews complied with the German authority rather than revolt against their oppression.
1. We are all born with the ability to be obedient and do what others tell us to do, which is why people are able to work together and form strong societies and governments. Dr. Milgram's study demonstrates that our obedience can overpower our feeling to do what is right. This is why people are likely to obey their government's demands, even if what they are doing is wrong. During the experiment, the test subjects thought they were helping with a study for the teaching-learning process, but the test is to see how obedient the test subjects are. They were convinced that they were doing the right thing by helping out with the experiment and that they were not responsible for what happened. Many of them continued in electrocuting a stranger because they trusted that he would be all right and that they were not responsible for any injury to him. This shows that many people will be obedient even if they are harming someone.
ReplyDelete2. This experiment doesn't relate much to the Holocaust or what Elie Wiesel experiences in his memoir, "Night". During the experiment, the test subjects were free to leave at any time; they were convinced to stay, but if they really wanted to, they could have left. In the Holocaust, the Nazis couldn't just leave because they didn't want to do Hitler's dirty work. Nazis would have been killed if they did that. However, many of the Nazis were like the test subjects in the study because they trusted Hitler and wanted to obey him, but didn't enjoy killing innocent people; but once again, they couldn't leave even if they wanted to for a second. The Nazis were not responsible for what they did in the Holocaust just as in the experiment, the test subjects were not responsible for what would have happened if they really were electrocuting a complete stranger. Hitler is to blame for the Holocaust and the experimenter would have been to blame if they were actually studying the teaching-learning process by electrocuting the learner. People who are just following orders and doing what they are told to do should not be to blame for their actions.
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ReplyDelete1. As a student we are told to "follow the instructions at the top of the page" or "listen when Im talking" my teachers would say, as an athlete are told watch, learn and to practice. Whether is be in school,at home, outside we are always be told to do something, and we obey. In the article we are told how people obey because they are either frighten of what will happen if they don't or get rewarded if they do. We read how a person would shock and random citizen for money because he was told to do so..We obey because we have always been told to listen, to follow the directions,to pay attention and to always respect your superiors. We are taught right from wrong but when it comes down to it whats right and whats wrong are no longer in our control,but in our teachers,our parents, our coaches(ETC..) Whatever they tell us is right, is.. And whatever they tell us is wrong is wrong. Obeying is part of being human,part of life but if you were told to go and shock a random citizen for money would you? Will you still obey?
ReplyDelete2. In Night, the Germans obeyed Hitler for he was their superior. He taught them right from wrong and in this case what was right to him was indeed wrong. Yet the Germans obeyed and carried out his orders, harming and killing the Jews. They(they Germans) do not believe what they did was wrong, because if they did otherwise it was them who would be harmed or killed. They obeyed, not for money, but for their life. What they did gave them power over the jews they were now in control of something. In spite of everything, Hitler is to blame for the deaths and the outcome of the Holocaust. The prisoners obeyed the soldiers who obeyed Hitler so who are we to blame to soldiers who have no control over their actions.. Just like in the experiment the teacher obeyed the experimenter because he had control over his actions.
1. This study implies that people are highly obedient to their superiors. Regardless of demands, many people will do what they were told, if it was demanded by higher authority. As children we are taught to listen to our elders, whether we liked what we heard or not. Later as adults, we are thrown into the same structure with the government. As stated in the experiment, the “teacher” was willing to almost kill a man just because a man with a lab coat on told him to. Most people will carry out orders without question, because they fear what will happen to them if they don’t.
ReplyDelete2. This experiment relates to Wiesel’s situation in his memoir because of the amount of obedience the German soldiers had. Most soldiers weren’t killing innocent Jews because they simply liked it, but rather they feared what would happen to them if they didn’t do it. If they were killing innocent people who did obey, what would happen to an officer who didn’t obey his orders? Not only were the Germans ordered to kill the Jews, but they were taught that it was the right thing to do. Hitler, who was their leader, told them it was for their country. Just as the prisoners listened to the officers, the officers were listening to Hitler.
1. Since birth we have always been required to be obedient. At home we are told to do what our parents ask us to, and at school for our teachers. Most kids will never disrespect or disobey a figure of authority for fear of what the punishment will be. Punishments are most likely the larges motivator to perform well and be respectful. Pain and loss are what all people avoid. That is why punishments work as a motivator. The same goes with the government. Most obey the laws because punishments enforced by the law. These punishments include loss of privileges or pain.
ReplyDelete2. Elie and every person in the camps was expected to obey the orders given to them by the Nazis. If they did not cooperate or meet the requirements, the punishments were either extreme pain or death. Because of this, no one rebelled against the Germans. The Nazis were the government of the concentration camps. If you didn't check out, you died.
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ReplyDelete1. Since the day that we begin to think for ourselves, we are taught to listen to authoritative figures in our life, which always is some one, or a group of people, that have more knowledge than us in a particular topic. Whether that is our parents, a teacher, a scientist, or even a museum guide. We are led to believe that if they have more knowledge or experience than us, they are our superior and should be obeyed and respected. This life lesson is correct in the way that it teaches us to "respect our elders", but at the same time, creates a scenario where we almost blindly obey an authoritative figure despite what we may think or feel. The way our government is run has been around almost since the day this country began, and its worked. We believe that our "authoritative figures", aka congress, the president, and the senate, all know whats best for us. So we blindly agree to laws that are passed and speeches that are delivered, not giving them much of a second thought. When we do happen to rethink what has been told to us and compare it to our own beliefs, we hesitate for a moment before shrugging and brushing it off, convincing ourselves that the government knows best.
ReplyDelete2. At the beginning of the book "Night", Ellie describes his home, after the creation of the ghettos, as "ruled by delusion". After having his experience and reflecting on it, Ellie sees how his fellow Jews had lulled themselves into a false sense of security, ignoring the signs of their people slowly being cut off from the rest of the world. Little by little, their lives were taken from them, but slowly enough where it didn't seem unreasonable at the time. They were in complete trust of the authoritative figures around them, which then lead to their downfall. By the time they realized they were in danger, their lives had been stripped from them.
1. The study does imply a person is obedient to someone greater or superior to oneself. Now this can be evidence to support the fact that someone will be obedient to their government regardless of the consequences it may have. People are taught from a young age to be obedient and to listen to those in charge. It starts with your parents they act as someones first authority figure, then teachers, bosses, law enforcement, government officials. All of these people play a role in essentially training someone to be obedient, as does the mean consequence if orders are not followed. So it cannot be a surprise that people would so blindly follow their government, even tho they may not agree with what they are doing.
ReplyDelete2. This experiment relates to Wiesel's experiences described in "Night", because the experiment brought out the obedience in the subjects and the Germans brought out the obedience in the Jewish people. While Wiesel was in these concentration camps they were all ordered around, being told what to do. They had a choice, listen to the Germans or be beaten and killed. Neither are good choices but there wasn't any other options. So many obeyed doing as the Germans told them. During the experiment the people were asked to electrocute Mr. Williams when he answered wrong. He seemed to be hurting, the teachers could have left at any time. While most seemed very unhappy with the task at hand, they needed little convincing to obey Milgram.
1. People will obey the government regardless of the end results because they are afraid to disobey their authority figures. In Milgram’s experiment, “If Hitler Asked You to Electrocute a Stranger Would You?”, the teachers obeyed the experimenter’s orders because they were intimidated by the experimenters. People that have higher authority tend to be more accepted then lower authority figures because they tend to be more intimidating. For example, in Milgram’s experiment the “teachers” in the Yale University experiment obeyed more to giving a higher voltage shock of Mr. Wallace then the other “teachers” when the experiment was at an un-known building.
ReplyDelete2. In "Night", Wiesel and the other Jews obeyed the German army because the German soldiers had authority over them. Milgram’s experiment could be related to "Night" by comparing the teacher, learner, and experimenter. For example, in Milgram’s experiment the experimenter had authority over the teacher thus making the teacher do whatever they were told. The experimenter in this case would be the German Army and the teacher would be the German officer. The German officers would then try to teach the leaner, in this case the Jews; the German officers were forcing Jews out of their homes because the German Army leaders were ordering them to. The Jews had to obey the German officers because if they didn’t they would have been killed for disobeying authority. Having an authority figure to obey makes society harder because disobeying an authority figure could result in punishment.
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ReplyDelete1. This study does imply that starting at a very young age, whether at home through our parents, through school with our teachers and even through places of worship, we are taught obedience- obedience to our parents and elders, our teaches, to God, to leaders of government and ultimately, to our country. Unfortunately, as the studied showed, blind obedience can often lead to painful or disastrous outcomes.
ReplyDelete2. In Night, Elie Wiesel experienced how blind obedience of the German people towards Adolf Hitler and the Third Reich’s twisted, evil view that those of the Jewish faith were the reason for all of Germany’s problems past and present. Not only did many Germans blindly act out of vengeance towards those the government felt were threats to the Third Reich, many Germans also acted out of fear that unless they supported their government’s actions, they too would suffer the same consequences as the Jews. Sadly, many Jews, in order to survive, also blindly followed the orders of the government, even once imprisoned by the SS in concentration camps.
1. This study implies that people are highly likely to obey commands they receive from the government, despite the fact that the command may be against what we as individuals believe to be morally wrong. Although this is what the article points out, I believe that there are different degrees of obedience to governing authorities. Here in the United States, we can (most of the time, but not all of the time) obey our leaders without going outside of our moral beliefs. On the other hand, in select countries around the world, citizens may have to be more cautious when obeying orders from their government since their authority figure may not be well-intending. In such countries, the government may also be more likely to use force to coerce citizens into obeying and therefore, citizens may be more likely to obey due to their fear of punishment.
ReplyDelete2. The experiment put on by Stanley Milgram relates to Night almost identically. In the experiment, a commanding authority (Experimenter) instructs an individual under his direction (Teacher) to inflict pain upon an innocent person (Learner). During WWII, an authority figure (Hitler, other Nazi leaders) instructed individuals under their leadership (soldiers, officers) to inflict pain upon other innocent humans (Jews, non-Germans, and others). As Wiesel describes these experiences, it is easy to see the similarities between the experiment and the memoir.
1. Milgram’s study on obedience to authority implies that people will likely be obedient to governments regardless of what the government demands. Why this may seem shocking morally, it isn’t so shocking when you look at how we live our day to day lives. Our society operates by people following rules, and if not followed, we have consequences to reinforce them. This is how we have learned to live, so being disobedient to authority is really not in our nature. So when even unjust orders are given, we still follow authority. Additionally, whether the order comes from “above”, people tend to not feel responsible for a decision and, we do not feel like we are the ones to blame. This is how in Milgram’s experiment the “teacher” may have questioned if he was doing the right thing, but guilt didn’t make him stop as he didn’t feel responsible for his decisions.
ReplyDelete2. In Milgram’s experiment, the roll of the “teacher” was played by average people who did not know what was going to occur in the experiment. At first, the experimenter explains what the teacher is going to do, and at this early stage it doesn't appear to be that bizarre or cruel. As the experiment continues, the teacher may feel uncomfortable with what he is doing, but he is reassured that all the consequences of the experiment are to fall upon the experimenter. Therefore, the “teacher” often feels as if he isn’t the one doing the wrong, it is the experimenter. Elie Wiesle’s experiences in the war were inhuman to say the least; however, those who actually forced him and other Jews into concentration camps and ghettos, may have felt similar to the “teacher” in Milgram’s experiment. By placing the consequences of their actions on their superiors, it reduced the feeling of guilt among those who may have felt concern about their actions. This raises the question, “Did some of the German soldiers commit ever greater atrocities just like the “teacher” in Milgram’s experiment just because there were being told to by authority, and not because they thought it was right?” None of this justifies either the “teachers’” or the Germans’ acts but makes you wonder who of any of us will make independent decisions in the face of authority, even when authority is unjust or morally wrong.
1. Milgram's experiment proves that people are raised to respect authority and to follow with little resistance. When people are following orders and when its in the form of an experiment it is easy for people to distance themselves from the pain they are causing. We learn at a young age that when we break the rules there are consequences. So when there are no consequences what stops us? People often rely on rules set out for them by a government or some other authority figure rather than their own moral compass.
ReplyDelete2. Many of the people in positions of power at Auschwitz while Elie and his father were there had some sort of compassion for the Jews. Much like the "Teacher" in the experiment they are people who are just following orders and yet are being extremely inhumane. People in "Night" who were in charge of putting the Jews to work and in some cases torturing them were able to dehumanize these people just like the subject in the experiment. Even though Hitler and other Nazi leaders set the genocide in motion it was ordinary people who carried it out. The fact that such a high number of people where willing to put a stranger through that much pain in Milgram's experiment is scary and makes me hope that I would be stronger than that.
1) We obey the government or those of higher ranks of us because we are taught from our parents to listen/ obey those above us. Our parents have always told us to listen to them because they’re older and wiser than us when we’re little kids. We’ve obeyed them because we didn’t know better; however, even at older ages this can sometimes show. Since we are taught as a kid to obey those above us we also do that as adults sometimes.
ReplyDelete2) The experiment is relatable to “Night” because the Germans to punish and kill all the people are just obeying those above them. They may try to fight back but because the people of higher rank are telling them what to do they feel like they’re being forced to do the job. The Germans could not even want to hurt these people but, because they are told to do it, they do hurt them.
1. Cultures all over the world have an emphasis on obedience to your parents or guardians during your adolescent years and I think that it is only natural that as we mature this obedience transfers to teachers, bosses, and the government. When we are young we are taught to obey no matter what because our parents have our best interests in mind. I think Milgram’s experiment got the results it did because the experimentees just did what they had always been taught to do.
ReplyDelete2. In Weisel’s memoir, he encountered cruel Nazis and a small amount of Germans that had compassion for the Jews. I think that the Nazies that had a genuine hatred for the Jews had no problem carrying out their orders. However, the other ones were acting out of obedience and fear of being punished or placed in the same situation as the Jews. This relates to the experiment because the teacher and the experimenter had the same relationship as the Nazies had to Hitler. Both the teacher and the Nazies acted out of obedience and fear of punishment.
1. According to the study, it is suggesting that people will be obedient to the authorities out of trust and fear. They believe the authorities know what they're doing and are scared that they will have the situation put onto them if they don't help. This is a perfect example of the saying "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em". These people are joining the bad guys so they are safe. This can also be seen as fending for yourself; these people are selfish, not cruel murderers like this test makes them out to be.
ReplyDelete2. In both the article and the book the characters are set up in distinct classes only interacting when one of them is giving an order to a lower class. Wiesel was the man in the chair, the SS officers were all teachers, and Hitler was the experimenter. Wiesel had to listen to commands from all SS officers and they had to listen to Hitler. They all were obedient to their higher commanders out of overwhelming terror and the threat of a gun to the heart of their beliefs.
1.We are told our whole lives that we are free, but we are not really as free as we think we are. This article illustrates that very well. Almost all of us will obey the authority virtually regardless of what it is asking. We have been set up like this for our entire lives; from our parents, teachers, coaches, and, perhaps most important to this system, the government. This is isn't necessarily, or at least isn't always, a bad thing. This is how society works, and without it society simply wouldn't work. Without our society, we would be significantly worse off, depending on how you look at it. Our obedience can of course be a bad thing. Take the period that followed 9/11 for example. The American people were scared, rightfully so. The government took advantage of peoples fear and used it to put in place acts and laws that compromised their freedom. The government told the people that these acts and laws would help prevent future terrorist attacks, and maybe that's true. Because people were afraid of terrorist attacks and because they had been made to not question authority in such a situation where it looked like it was all for the better, people went along with it. The people didn't realize how this violated their rights until later. Most of us will do almost whatever the authority tells us to do as long as we are told it’s in the name of freedom, justice, and democracy.
ReplyDeleteIt’s really a flaw of human nature that we don’t question authority, or at least we don’t do so often enough. As the experiment shows, such obedience isn't limited to only some of the people of the world; it is true of all peoples. Obedience and being able to look to authority is a good thing. It’s a good thing when you listen to your coach when he or she tells you that you need to improve in certain aspects of your game. It’s a good thing when you listen to the government when they tell you to conserve water. However, it would be a bad thing if you obeyed your coach if they told you to intentionally hurt another player so your team could win. It would be a bad thing if you obeyed when the government told you to inform on you neighbor because they could be a terrorist. Obedience to authority becomes a bad thing when we are not able to disobey authority when it asks of us something deplorable.
2. The book Night has a strong connection to this article. In the book, Elie Wiesel is witness to many atrocious acts committed by the SS and their accomplices. It’s true that many of the people in the SS were truly evil, sadistic, and brutal people, but some believed that what they were doing was a good thing; that they had a just cause. It’s seems crazy that anyone could think that, but what we don’t usually realize is that all Germans of that time were made to believe that. Hitler pinned all of Germany's problems that followed the country's defeat in the First World War on the Jews, the Gypsies, the communists, and anyone else that Hitler and the Nazis considered to be “undesirable”. This made the so called “undesirables” the enemy of the German people. The people of Germany went along with having these people removed from the country; they wouldn't learn the true horror of what had happened until after the war. Morals didn't necessarily play a factor for the SS as they ceased to think of the inmates as fellow human beings. This is in contrast to Milgram’s experiment where the teacher believed that the learner was 100% another human being. Many of the SS had been almost brainwashed and/or were simply following their orders; however, many were sadistic and evil animals who hopefully got what they deserved when the camps were liberated by the Allies.
1. Power: it defines us. It leads us no matter how we look or we see it. Do we follow because we trust the person who holds it or what they plan to do? Or do we follow fearing the consequences of denying it? A brilliant yet insane series of experiments by Stanley Milgram shows how plenty of normal people in this country alone would be willing to electrocute a stranger simply out of fear or authority of a random figure. Relating this to government, it would only take one man, with enough passion, courage, and power in his voice to devote an entire race to his demands.
ReplyDelete2. This experiment can relate to both parties in "Night" and World War 2. Those German soldiers who were unable to fully commit to the terrorizing acts demanded by their superiors such as Hilter did not have a long lasting military profession. Those willing to put up the act either truly believed or were pushed by fear. Weisel, along with the other Jews in the concentration camps, had much more to fear though. Their lives weren't even closely as secure as those of the military because they had to fear the military itself. Elie Weisel, on many occasions, wanted change yet feared the back fire of any commotion he started. They knew change was outrageous, so they never hoped for it.
1. It is in human's nature to obey. With both positive and negative reinforcements, humans are taught at a young age the importance of obedience. With disobedience comes the risk of a punishment. To maintain a balanced society, people learn to obey authority. Naturally, people feel it's their duty to fulfill the demands of their superior. The study implies that because of humans' natural tendency to error on the side of obedience, they are most likely to obey the government disregarding the demands.
ReplyDelete2. Many question the reasons why the Germans could be so harsh and obey their cruel commands during the holocaust. The experiment proves the natural obedience of humans. During Elie Wiesel's experience in his memoir, Night, obedience took form in many examples. Not only did one feel it was necessary to obey, but also in most cases felt threatened by the consequences of disobedience. The Jews had to obey the SS officers in fear of losing their life. The SS men were much like the teacher in the experiment, doing what was asked of them. Each individual had someone with superior power demanding something of them, and whether they did or didn't feel it was correct, they obeyed. This is much like in the experiment. The teacher felt it wasn't right to continue to shock the student, yet continued to obey the experimenter's commands. Whether the SS officers thought it was acceptable to treat the Jews so disrespectfully or not, they continued to obey the authoritative figure, like the teacher in the experiment.
1. Growing up we have been wired to be obedient of those with authority, be it our parents, teachers, or coaches. It was programmed into our minds to listen, do as we were told, and to never question those orders. Blindly, we followed through and obeyed the commands hoping that we were able to avoid punishment of any form. In the experiment the teacher had a choice, he could have retaliated and not be punished. With money as his form of reward he showed obedience, but it was not as much if there was a form of punishment. Since he had the choice to say no and stop the experiment, he was able to voice his objection without consequences. If his life was dependent on his obedience he would have followed through blindly, not caring about the well-being of the test subjects. For the Jews, their lives depended on whether or not they were able to act with complete obedience, they were not able to voice any objections. Conclusively, this shows that we, as humans, are more likely to obey if there are negative impacts due to our actions.
ReplyDelete2. In the memoir "Night", it was expected of Elie Wiesel to obey the Germans and for the Germans to obey Hitler. The experiment displayed that the subject receiving positive reinforcement obeyed as a lower cooperation level than those that would be punished if they did otherwise. The subjects with lower cooperation levels in this experiment represented the Germans whereas the Jews were those whom received punishment for any disobedience. In this case death would be the punishment the Jews would be fighting to avoid by trying their hardest to be as obedient as possible.
1. Starting at a very young age, we were taught to obey people with higher authority then you, whether it was a teacher, a coach, or just an elder. Our parents told us to do so, because they were older and had more knowledge then us. And as we get older, this might still show in some adults when it comes to situations like this when you have to obey someone that is extremely high in authority. These adults didn't know if there was a punishment if they didn't electrocute the man so they just went along with it.
ReplyDelete2. This experiment is relatable to the memoir "Night", because it is all just a chain of obedience. The experiment started with the experimenter telling the teacher to electrocute the learner, and he does because he has no idea if there is a punishment or not. This is just the same in "Night". Hitler tells all of the officers to punish Elie Wiesel and the rest of the inmates, and they do because they don't know if there is a punishment or not. And knowing Hitler there probably was a punishment.
1. We have all been taught to obey a higher authority than you at one point in our lives. It's just in our right minds to obey whatever the government would be telling us to do. For example, if we were being noisy in a classroom and the teacher told us to be quiet, the classroom would probably be silent quickly. So if a higher authority told me I had to do some cruel punishment to someone, I probably would knowing that if I didn't I would pay the price for not obeying his/ her command.
ReplyDelete2. The experiment can relate to the memoir, "Night" because the learner in this case is Elie Wiesel, the teacher are the Germans, and the experimenter is Adolf Hitler. It's all obedience from a higher power. No one could disobey the boss. You had to obey the higher command no matter what was told because of the fearfulness they strike upon you and the materiality they had over you.
1. The study that Stanley Milgram preformed on these two groups of people implies that our body’s moral code, our souls, are ingrained with the thought to obey orders no matter what said order can be. We are taught at a very young age concepts that should stick with us throughout life, and they usually are. While there were cases of disobedience, others had cases of extreme obedience no matter how costly the demands were. Your soul is taught morals, as well as other concepts and survival tools no matter where you are surviving, and usually it will follow those, unless something else outweighs it. In this instance, it seemed like the notion of disobedience outweighed conscience no matter how heavily or lightly. Disobedience is heavier because we are usually punished when we disobey, and that is how we were taught to not disobey. This study implies that we cannot change our mental state that has been ingrained within us.
ReplyDelete2. This experiment weighs very heavily with Wiesel’s experience because he had lots of contact with the NAZI “grunts” (they were effectively grunts as they didn’t create these orders, but obeyed them and gave them) who took advantage of their power. Elie also had to deal with the orders that they were given by the NAZI’s, such as the physical aspect, or the work. Elie followed these orders because he knew if he disobeyed then he would be heavily punished, and this knowledge was ingrained within him because he experienced it himself, both there and in his youth. We are made to follow orders, such as the order to create these answers and to do this work, because we know that if we disobey (don't do the work), we will be punished (i.e. dropped from Acceleuro)
!. The obedience of the government is solely based on fear of the repercussions of disobedience. The primary reason why our society is in order is fear of the consequences of crimes punishable by the government. This is fear is all relative to the superiority, which brings me to the question in the title of this article. If Hitler asked me to electrocute someone, I most likely will for my families safety. Although, if a random stranger asked me to kill this homeless man in his apartment I would call the cops. the difference between those two situations is that Hitler is known to exterminate, and this stranger legitimacy and threat for my safety is on a much smaller scale, bringing me to conclude that obedience is relative to fear.
ReplyDelete( I broke the two questions up because I had problems with my computer restarting causing me to start over)
ReplyDelete2. In my opinion, the experiment relates to the prisoners faith in god in times of hardships. The statistics for obedience matches up pretty well with faith throughout, and disobedience matches up with loss of faith entirely. Why I believe people kept faith was because they were taught they would go to hell if they disobeyed God, whereas people who lost faith did because they couldn't worship someone who allowed almost an extermination of a race.
1. As a child, you obeyed higher authority, such as teachers, parents, and anyone with greater knowledge. You feared being punished, so you did as they would say because that's how we were raised. In the experiment the teacher had a choice, he could have retaliated and not be punished. With money as his form of reward he showed obedience, but it was not as much if there was a form of punishment. Since he had the choice to say no and stop the experiment, he was able to voice his objection without consequences. He obeyed because the only other option he had was to be punished. The teacher hesitated by giving in to the learners begging, but the experimenter insisted the experiment must go on.
ReplyDelete2. This experiment relates to the memoir "Night", because the experimenter resembles Hitler in many ways. Elie is is much like the learner, because he obeys the concentration camp officers out of fear that they will beat him or punish him. He rebels in subtle ways, yet still seems to stay loyal until he is released. The Germans signify the teachers and support Hitler out of fear, yet feel guilty for the Jews.
1. Even at very young ages we have been taught to obey authority no matter what they are asking us to do, even if we do not want to do it. Normally consequences would come along with being disobedient and sometimes we would be rewarded for obedience. When we are young the higher authorities that we listen to the most are our parents and teachers but as you grow up you begin to do what the government tells you to do because you fear the results of being disobedient. The test showed that humans are probably more obedient than we would like to be.
ReplyDelete2. The experiment is relatable to the memoir "Night" because the Jews would do whatever the German soldiers would tell them to do without hesitation. The jews were afraid of the consequences of not following the orders. Also the Germans will do what Hitler tells them to do because he is their authority and they trust him enough that they will do whatever he asks of them.
1. Obedience is something we all learn at a very young age we learn to obey people with authority. Even if that means doing something we don’t want to do. Sometimes we obey people with authority out of pure respect and other times we obey them out of fear. Fear of what might happen to us if we don’t obey and do exactly what they ask. Sometimes people will follow people that have a higher power because they want that same power and control even if that means hurting people in the process.
ReplyDelete2. This experiment relates to the memoir "Night" in many ways. One particular similarity is how people will do just about anything out of fear for people with authority. Just like in the memoir "Night" the Jews would do anything the German soldiers asked because they had the fear of being beaten or killed. Hitler's followers shared this same fear, the fear that if they didn’t do what Hitler requested they to would be killed. In some circumstances people will do anything to gain higher power and respect even if that means hurting innocent people.
1. When we were young we were taught do what our parents told us to do. As children we were of the lowest power so whenever someone told us to do anything we had to obey. If we did obey we would occasionally be awarded for what we did, but on the flip side we were punished for when we disobeyed. Once we are old enough we will no longer have to obey our parents but we will have to obey the government instead. Since when we were younger we were taught to obey to the higher power, once the government is the higher power we seem to obey what they say without question. For instance the government ultimately creates laws that we have to abide by and if we don't obey then we can be punished.
ReplyDelete2.This experiment relates to Wiesel's experience in the memoir "Night" in lots of ways. Hitler was the experimenter, the soldiers were the teachers and the Jews were the students. Hitler gave the soldiers commands that they executed and the soldiers were in control of the Jews, they gave the Jews many different tasks and if they did them incorrectly or didn't do them then they would be punished. Just like the learner was punished if he got an answer wrong,
1. All the animals in the animal kingdom know the process of hierarchy. Even sharks will abandon their feeding grounds if they know that a larger shark is approaching. In a sense this is the same case with humans. From a young age we are taught to do as we are told or face the consequences. This may be the case with Hitler. People were so scared of the consequences of disobeying Hitler that they just did what he said out of fear for their and their family's lives. Another possibility is that the common human reaction to someone of higher rank is to just obey. This study shows that obeying orders from someone of higher rank isn't weird or a cultural thing but rather human nature.
ReplyDelete2. In the memoir "Night" by Elie Wiesel I was surprised to find that there was no rebellion among the inmates. As this experiment shows, however, if humans sense that there is somebody of higher rank than them telling them what to do, they feel compelled to obey. Also, when I read this experiment I thought of what Elie Wiesel said, that everybody felt as if the entire thing was the work of God. If they felt that way then rebelling was not an option as it would be going against their God.
1) We have all been told to since we were little respect, follow, and /obey/ our superiors. Whether they be parents, teachers, or our government we have been trained, if you will, to have the upmost obedience. We put an almost laughable amount of faith in our government and assume that anything they ask for must be good; those few willing to even question it are considered brave. I know, for myself at least, that sometimes I am not exactly sure of what I am being asked to do or perhaps its importance, however, I have been disciplined to follow, to /obey/. Most people living in this country believe in our government and what it’s doing and what it stands for and, if asked, would do many things they would not considered themselves normally doing (especially if someone “lower” asked for it done). We find this every day in our loyal troops. They are willing to go into battle, fight and die for the country they love /and obey/.
ReplyDelete2) As I read this article I saw a few very define pieces of almost role playing. I saw the Nazis as the “experimenter” pushing and aggressively making the Jews or “teachers” do what they wanted out of fear and obedience. However, there are flaws in that correspondence. Unlike the Jews, the teachers were free and could leave at any time. The “teachers” also had some type of control over something that could almost be used in their fashion: the “learners”. I see more sense in another way. I can more easily view the Nazis being the “teacher” and the Jews as the “learner”. The Nazis were causing the Jews much pain and may have even felt guilty for it, but felt the pressure from their superiors and felt obliged for their country. As I previously stated, our troops walk into impossible situations every day, asked to follow their country and protect it, protect themselves, protect their families, protect their government; just as the Nazis were. They strongly believed they were protecting everything they loved by exterminating these people. Maybe in a way we could have done the same thing in “protecting our families”. So the question arises: Should the Nazi soldiers be prosecuted and held accountable? ( please note I am talking about the soldiers, not order-giving officials). Or are they (in an extreme way) not so different from us?
1. From the time we were born we were taught to respect and follow our superiors lead. The more influence someone already has allows them to have and even greater influence on an individual. The individual thinks "This person has influence over many people" and so they let the influential person have influence over them as well. Sometimes that lead is in the wrong direction. Take hitler for example, people followed him simply because others did. Thats a very dangerous human trait to have.
ReplyDelete2. In the book, some guards were nicer than others, but I guarantee if they were brought in front of their superiors they would be just as cruel as the rest. It's in our nature to do whatever it takes to survive. A person's self-preservation is probably one of the strongest feelings that they can have. Especially if the responsibility or blame falls on someone else for what they have to do or they think that they have to do. Often times a person's main reason for not doing a horrible thing is their guilt. If the superior takes responsibility for what the person did then they have no guilt and are cable of the unimaginable.
1. The obedience study made by Stanley Milgram implies that people with almost always be obedient to authority. Milgram says this is because people will switch their mindset when following an order. For example, a you are a manger and you were told to layoff an employ and you go and tell him that he no longer can work at the office, in the mind set that it was not your decision. Like that, the test subjects are concerned for the person getting shocked but “know” that it wasn't their fault. Really though, it was partly their fault for not trying at all to help the people. This is because sometimes people are scared to make decisions for themselves because of either loss of respect or fear. If people are scared of what others will think of them then you can’t make your own decisions.
ReplyDelete2. Stanley Milgram’s experiment relates to Elie Wiesel’s Memoir, “Night” in that there is the authority, the follower, and the abused. The authority was the experimenter and Hitler who both pressured people to do what they say and not question their plans. The followers were the SS and the teacher, who did not think for themselves if they even wanted to do what they were doing. Lastly, the abused, who were the Jews and the learner, who where abused and tortured the experiment/plans. The main difference is that the teacher did not know what the experiment was for, and could disobey and stop the experiment with $4.50 more in their wallet, but if the Nazi disobeyed he would be punished and most likely killed. It does not feel right to say that anyone could be as bad as a Nazi by according to this information it seems possible which is a scary thought.
1. It's in our human nature to obey authority because that is what we have done our whole lives. From obeying our parents, teachers, and coaches we have learned that while we may not always want to obey, there will be consequences if we don't. Our society's obedience to the government is just one example of something that will bring consequences if not obeyed. Those consequences being a weak government without a civil society.
ReplyDelete2. In both the experiment and the memoir, people acted upon the commands they were given rather than their own opinions. In the experiment, the people felt the need to obey in fear of not carrying out their given task. No matter what their view, something made them do what they were told. The same goes for "Night". There were a countless number of people who followed orders out of fear. For example, Elie and his father followed every order they were given because their lives were continuously at risk. Disobeying could have costed them their lives. So, out of fear and self-preservation, they had no other option but to obey.
1. From the time we are young, we are taught, to obey our elders. If we were to disobey, we would be punished. Stanley Milgram, a psychologist, who conducted an experiment on human behavior, makes the interesting discovery that people will obey a higher authority, without hesitation. He believes that this is because we operate under a state of agency.
ReplyDelete“I think of a state of agency as a real transformation of a person; if a person has different properties when he’s in that state, just as water can turn to ice under certain conditions of temperature.” A state of agency occurs when there is a higher power, with a seemingly legitimate purpose, such as, Adolf Hitler, who was the leader of the Germans. His intent was to rid the world of a race that he thought was evil. Since he was a person of high power, millions of other people went along with what he wanted; though the targets in question were innocent of any crimes punishable by death. People will automatically bend, under their leaders rule, because they believe it will not harm them personally. “A person can move to the state of mind that I call agency. . .the critical thing is that you see yourself as the instrument of the execution of another person’s wishes.” In this way, it is as though it is someone else doing horrible things to people. This relieves the individual person of feelings of conscious or morality. The state of agency controls your actions and makes you believe that what you are doing is right. “You do not see yourself as acting on your own. And there’s a real transformation, a real change of properties of the person.” Your mind shields you from the horrors you’re performing. It is like a mask over your thoughts that justify your very actions as someone elses. It is your leader’s decisions you’re carrying out, and, they have, in no way, any effect on you. So, if the government were to demand we exterminate a race, there would be a ruling authority, with a legitimate purpose, therefore, causing millions to undergo a state of agency.
2. In Night, a memoir by Elie Wiesel, the SS soldiers who were in charge of all the concentration camps, where the Jewish people were kept, were under a state of agency. They were operating under the commands of Adolf Hitler, not their own beliefs. They had been persuaded to believe in what Hitler deemed was right. The state of agency masked what they were doing and justified their actions. Since their minds were hiding the evils they were doing to innocent men, women, and children, they were able to burn them, without remorse. However, some would begin to discover the true magnitude of their actions. For example, when the SS soldiers were going to hang a little boy and two other men in front of the rest of the prisoners, the Lagerkapo refused to act as executioner. He had begun to see the horror of what they were doing to these people. So three other SS soldiers took his place, still believing what they were doing was good. They murdered an innocent child, because of the state of agency controlling their minds. Our minds are powerful things that hold many secrets. The research of Stanley Milgram, tapped into the human mind in an effort to discover the secret to Hitler’s uncanny success, in perverting the minds of millions. This newfound knowledge will prevent us from making the same critical mistakes.
1. In the study, the test subjects were given the choice of continuing with the zapping whether they realized it or not. At the beginning of the study, they were all told that they would be receiving pay no matter the outcome, yet most of them put the learner through (perceived) agony and pain. Why? They felt the need to obey. Not to obey just anyone, but someone higher than them; some higher authority. While they could have stopped the learner from experiencing any further pain, they decided to keep going for no further benefit. I'm sure many of them did not want to keep going themselves, but felt utterly compelled to do so due to their obedience to a figure of authority.
ReplyDelete2. While the situations in the study and book are somewhat similar, what with there being a clear figure of authority and a victim, there is a fundamental difference, which is that in the book, disobedience is punished harshly. While this makes it easier to justify some of the actions taken in the book, it by no means gives some of the people in the book to act as cruelly as they did. While the guards did have a job and were forced to obey a higher authority, many of them were ruthlessly cruel and had no remorse despite that not being part of their orders. Obeying when under pressure to do so is one thing, but taking pleasure in others' sadness and suffering is another matter entirely, easily surpassing the issue of whether or not they are obeying.
1. The expirement implies that people might be willing to do anything for their government or perceived power regardless of what it demands because a person feels as if they are not acting on their own, free of the moral responsibility of their actions.
ReplyDelete2. As this experiment was one among a series meant to prove that "Germans are different", this experiment implies that the Nazis holding Wiesel and his father in the camp were in the state of "agency" that Milgram describes in his experiment. These soldiers may have justified their actions by believing that they were not morally responsible for their actions.