Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: epicure who wrote (234223)	6/25/2007 5:42:16 PM
From: Maurice Winn	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

My aim is to be right, so as soon as I see I'm wrong, I ditch the idea. I have no reason to be wrong. It's pointless. You are obviously not much of a teacher if you were telling people about that experiment and don't get the point. The issue we are discussing is the cruelty. I guess about 70% of people are highly prone to cruelty and slavery and using and abusing others. You can tell by voting patterns around the world. And hey presto, the experiment confirms my estimate - I had forgotten the details of just how many are keen to turn up the dial. I guess you were teaching psychology. Well, that explains a lot. I used to read psychology texts as light relief from more serious and rigorous engineering where imaginary ideas don't keep bridges and buildings or satellites running right. < "two-thirds of this studies participants fall into the category of ‘obedient' subjects, and that they represent ordinary people drawn from the working, managerial, and professional classes (Obedience to Authority)." Ultimately 65% of all of the "teachers" punished the "learners" to the maximum 450 volts. No subject stopped before reaching 300 volts! Milgram also conducted several follow-up experiments to determine what might change the likelihood of maximum shock delivery. In one condition, the touch-proximity condition, the teacher was required to hold the hand of the learner on a "shock plate" in order to give him shocks above 150 volts. The most amazing thing to note from this follow-up experiment is that 32% of the subjects in the proximity-touch condition held the hand of the learner on the shock plate while administering shocks in excess of 400 volts! Further experiments showed that teachers were less obedient when the experimenter communicated with them via the telephone versus in person, and males were just as likely to be obedient as females, although females tended to be more nervous. Milgram's obedience experiment was replicated by other researchers. The experiments spanned a 25-year period from 1961 to 1985 and have been repeated in Australia, South Africa and in several European countries. In one study conducted in Germany, over 85% of the subjects administered a lethal electric shock to the learner. > Germans were happy to turn it up. Not surprising really. They like people to toe the line and be obedient. The USA has quite a teutonic cultural influence too. Mqurice