Chapter 2: Obscura
Summary
In this chapter, Slater describes a psychology professor by the name of Stanley Milgram and his studies in obedience to authority. His belief is that humans can abandon their morals when in a persuasive situation. He wondered what kind of role authority played on the SS (part of the Nazi Party) officers. When a professor at Yale, he conducted an experiment where volunteers had to apply different amount of voltages to another "volunteer" whenever they answered a question wrong. What the volunteers did not know was that the "shocking" machine was fake, and the learner was a hired actor pretending to suffer electric shocks. Also in the experiment there was another actor dressed up with a white coat to pretend to be a figure with authority. According to Milgram's results, 65% of the people involved in the experiments would apply the maximum voltage possible due to the effect of obedience to authority. The chapter later describes that Milgram gives his professor Solomon Asch credit for making Milgram what he now is. Asch had done some research regarding group pressure.
Discussion
I have found this book to be one of the most interesting ones from the bunch since I have never taken a pscychology class, and to be honest these people are interesting. What I liked about this chapter is that once again Slater writes the chapter so descriptive that you actually feel that the book is relating one of your personal experiences. Even though I do not think I would volunteer for an experiment like this, I found it incredible to believe that more than 63% of the volunteers actually applied the maximum voltage. I was thinking all along this chapter that I would definitely be part of the other 37% to quit the experiment to get to the final voltage, but under this amount of pressure you just never know!
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