The Milgram experiment was an interesting attempt to
understand what went through the minds of German soldiers and officers during the
holocaust. It tested how willing a person was to follow orders simply because
they were ordered to do so. Following
orders allows for that one following them to give up control. This is both
restricting and liberating in other senses. On one hand you are not doing
things of your own volition, but you don’t need to think for yourself which
relieves you of being responsible for your actions. Being able to attribute
your actions to someone else’s in it of itself is liberating.
Taking yourself out of the equation allows for a person to do
things they couldn’t have alone. Be it for better or worse, following orders
forces people to push their limits whether or not that is a good thing. In
regards to the experiment, those who opted to quit the experiment were very
few. Even when the teachers were made aware of the learners “heart condition”
it did not completely sway them from following the orders of the experimenter.
This relinquishing of freedom made the teachers do things they normally wouldn’t
dream of doing even if that thing was to hurt another.
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