Henslin: If Hitler Asked You....

The experiment that Stanely Milgram, a social psychologist, conducted shows that "...we Americans are an obedient people: not blindly, and not blissfully, just obedient" (270). The experiment consists of two people where one would electrocute the other from a range of 15-450 volt. The subject who does the electrocution was not the one who was strapped, so they had the decision to disobey the experimenter; however, more than 30 percent of the subject followed through with the experiment. After the experiment, he sent questionnaires to the subjects asking if they were happy or sorry about the experiment and the result was shocking. 83.7% expressed that they were happy, 15% said they are neither happy nor sorry, and only 1.3% was sorry about the experiment. "...People do what they are told to" Milgram continues "... so as long as they perceived that the command comes from a legitimate authority". Although it may not be to the extreme, we do obey those who we feel has the authority over us. For examples, we listen to our parents and do what we're told to most of the time: wash the dishes, takes out trashes, vacuum the house, and etc. We also obey many others which we may not even realize ourselves: our boss, work diligently; customers, help them with their needs; and professors, no phones in class.