Reference Info:
Opening Skinner's Box
Lauren Slater
Summary:
This chapter explored the obedience to authority people have. Figures such as Adolf Hitler have, through authority, made people do terrible things and they obliged. The study conducted an experiment in which people thought to be shocking a victim of a study by a doctor. The subjects were told to up the voltage to shock the actor and they all listened because of his authority. This observed people response to authority, even when what they had to do was unpleasant. upon her further researcher, the author finds that the test subjects she interviewed had opposite lives. The person who obeyed was typically not a rule follower while the one who disobeyed lead a strict rule following life.
Discussion:
It is interesting to see how people would obey to such demands, even when the supposed victim is pleading for them to stop. I wonder if a lot of it has to do with the doctor's role in the experiment. Was he obeyed because he was a doctor or because he was calling the shots. If an equally prestigious profession had told people to keep going, would they have? My question is if they followed orders because a doctor knows best about the body's capabilities or because he was a professional. Had an engineer or lawyer of a similar social stature, would the same results have been produces. What about your Average Joe with a min. wage job?
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