In a study (1966-1974) to determine the degree to which subjects were willing to inflict pain on another individual simply because they had been directed to do so by an authority figure, Stanley Milgram found that nearly two thirds complied completely.
Yep, that would be spot on, exactly spot on. Two thirds!
These are sad statistics. It is probably well known that so many prepetrators of horrific tortures and even death, especially in war-time, claimed that they were acting under orders.
ReplyDeleteIt certainly makes me stop and think...just what would I have done in those
circumstances????
I once visited Yad Vashem, the Jewish Holocaust Museum, in Jerusalem. Like many, I came out in tears, obviously for the suffering inflicted upon the Jews, but also for the continuing suffering experienced by the Palestinians at the hands of a nation that should have known better. My main distress, however, grew out of the fear that I too would most likely have joined in with terrible persecutions of the Nazis. Their propaganda was both relentless and compelling.
ReplyDeleteMilligram's experiment should make us all take stock. In what ways are we complicit in the sufferings of others today? The plight of refugees and aborted children comes to mind.