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Would I pull that switch?
Jul. 1st, 2008 07:43 amIn this article, the original Milgram studies (about how far someone can be induced to follow instructions even when causing pain to another person) are discussed and analyzed.
I've read about these studies before, of course. But this was a new take. Two important points came out of this article for me. The first was that one-third of participants chose to stop at the point where the subject asked to be let out, saying they didn't want to do it anymore; their decision was that the subject's right to refuse to continue trumped the experimenter's right to make them continue. That's an issue of human rights, and seeing the subject of the experiment as a human being who has those rights. The other was the issue of responsibility. People who stopped were taking personal responsibility for the pain they inflicted; people who didn't stop were putting that responsibility onto their superiors.
I think - and of course, I can't be sure, because I've never been tested this way - that I would have stopped either at 150 volts, or shortly thereafter if I were off-balance enough to not process what was happening quickly. Both of the reasons above hit home for me. I believe in human rights, and I believe in accepting personal responsibility. The hardest situations for me to deal with are usually the ones where my perception of my personal responsibility is beyond my means of actually influencing events. For example, I felt extremely guilty for letting down my teaching partner when it came to preparing for the grade five graduation, even though I had realistically done all that I could before I went away (in fact, I was the one pushing HER to get things done the two weeks before I went away, so that as little as possible would be left for her and my supply) and all that I could the day I was back before the graduation. In situations where the course of action that represented accepting responsibility was crystal-clear, as it would be in that experiment (pull the switch or don't) I wouldn't have that problem. It would be within my power to stop.
In any case, an interesting article.
I've read about these studies before, of course. But this was a new take. Two important points came out of this article for me. The first was that one-third of participants chose to stop at the point where the subject asked to be let out, saying they didn't want to do it anymore; their decision was that the subject's right to refuse to continue trumped the experimenter's right to make them continue. That's an issue of human rights, and seeing the subject of the experiment as a human being who has those rights. The other was the issue of responsibility. People who stopped were taking personal responsibility for the pain they inflicted; people who didn't stop were putting that responsibility onto their superiors.
I think - and of course, I can't be sure, because I've never been tested this way - that I would have stopped either at 150 volts, or shortly thereafter if I were off-balance enough to not process what was happening quickly. Both of the reasons above hit home for me. I believe in human rights, and I believe in accepting personal responsibility. The hardest situations for me to deal with are usually the ones where my perception of my personal responsibility is beyond my means of actually influencing events. For example, I felt extremely guilty for letting down my teaching partner when it came to preparing for the grade five graduation, even though I had realistically done all that I could before I went away (in fact, I was the one pushing HER to get things done the two weeks before I went away, so that as little as possible would be left for her and my supply) and all that I could the day I was back before the graduation. In situations where the course of action that represented accepting responsibility was crystal-clear, as it would be in that experiment (pull the switch or don't) I wouldn't have that problem. It would be within my power to stop.
In any case, an interesting article.