Milgram study revisited

[Sticks]

From the BBC (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7791278.stm)

Decades after a notorious experiment, scientists have found test subjects are still willing to inflict pain on others - if told to by an authority figure.
US researchers repeated the famous "Milgram test", with volunteers told to deliver electrical shocks to another volunteer - played by an actor.

Even after faked screams of pain, 70% were prepared to increase the voltage, the American Psychology study found.

Both may help explain why apparently ordinary people can commit atrocities.


:eek:

[apolloman]

"subjects are still willing to inflict pain on others "


yep, happens everyday where i work...

[Jens]

Yes, the funny thing about this is that anybody would assume that human nature would have changed drastically in the space of 70 years.

[Ara Pacis]

I suspect the Milgrim tests are studied by people looking to use the effect to their advantage.

[apolloman]

its human nature and ain't ever going to change

[HenrikOlsen]

Yes, the funny thing about this is that anybody would assume that human nature would have changed drastically in the space of 70 years.
The funny thing is that I would assume people would have heard about the first experiments and realized they where the test subjects, but the I tend to assume too much about the level of general knowledge in people.

[tdvance]

that's very likely--if I were in such an experiment, I'd at least be tempted to zap the heck out of the other person on the grounds it isn't real (and ethics in experimentation would prohibit it from being real--so if it turned out to be real...heck, his fault! his fault! I'm innocent! I thought the gun was a prop when I shot the actor!)

[TrAI]

Hmmm... I think people generaly can do just about anything if the correct circumstances are present.

Before that, they will believe that it is impossible that they would ever do anything like this. I have a feeling that many people that end up in jail for murder, rape/sexual abuse or some other serious crime against another person, never thought they would end up in such a situation, but then one day, the right mix of circumstances occured.

Of course, what these circumstances are, depends on the person in question, and so it may not seem sufficient to another.

[ravens_cry]

Humans are nasty little buggers, prone to excuses and rationalizations, attempting to justify their actions even when their own ethics and moral would call reprehensible. They are also good at perpetuating their genetic material. I love 'em, warts and all. Go humans, go humans, go, go, go!

[Ara Pacis]

The funny thing is that I would assume people would have heard about the first experiments and realized they where the test subjects, but the I tend to assume too much about the level of general knowledge in people.

I don't. I didn't learn about the Milgrim tests until a couple years ago when I went back to college and took a group dynamics course. Of course, people are more generally sophisticated these days and that makes them somewhat cynical. Howeover, I suspect that cynicism could allow people to still perform the same way on the Milgrim tests. In the past, people may have bushed the button because they trusted the examiners that what they were doing was legitimate and allowable. These days people may not trust the examiners, wondering if it's fake and if they are on "Punked" or something, and use that rationalization to go ahead and push the button anyways. The point, is not how we rationalize, but that we always find a way if we really want to.

[mugaliens]

"subjects are still willing to inflict pain on others "

yep, happens everyday where i work...

That's been my experience. I'd say about 20% would do it regularly if they felt they could get away with it. I'd love to fire them, but those pesky laws keep getting in my way... :mad:

[sarongsong]

its human nature and ain't ever going to change:(Number of incidents of torture on prime-time TV network shows from:
2002 to 2007: 897
1995 to 2002: 110
Harper's Index (http://www.harpers.org/)

[HenrikOlsen]

And it's not listing what percentage of those tortures that are depicted in a positive light, such as it's regular use in 24.