Oh, that's better than I thought.

[gaudior]

So, lots of people know about the Milgrim experiment, wherein people were ordered to shock a confederate to the point of apparently killing him. And we're always shocked to hear that people did it-- it tells us a lot about authority and will and how fascism works.

The thing I didn't know was the percentage that refused. While it's true that the majority went on and shocked the person apparently to death-- it's not that big a majority.

35% of people wouldn't do it. When the experiment was repeated (in a kinder and gentler and less traumatic fashion) in 2006 by Burger, that number was 30% and 36% in two different conditions.

A third of people wouldn't do it.

So... be part of that third. And show other people that they can do it, too.

--R

Comments

[ryenna.livejournal.com]

Have you read Opening Skinner's Box? The author went and found some of the people who participated in the Milgram experiments and talked to them well after the fact. Some of the ones who followed the order to continue shocking the "subject" went on to be very different people, consciously questioning authority and their treatment of others.

Similarly, another experiment in the diffusion of responsibility and discussion of that phenomenon seems to have an effect on people who know about it. If you know that in an emergency, people tend to hesitate and look for a leader instead of acting, you're less likely to hesitate and more likely to act. Because you know the instinctual response groups have.