Notice of absence from HannahElisabeth
Taking a long overdue mental health vacation. I will check in when I can.
Taking a long overdue mental health vacation. I will check in when I can.
15 volts
And a lab coat
And a line reading danger
Despite begging and pleading
Until finally, no answer
"Please continue"
He says
"The experiment requires you to continue"
He says
"It is absolutely essential that you continue"
He says
"You have no other choice but to continue"
He says
15 volts
And a lab coat
Is all that it takes
To render us monsters
We all love to hate
-
Author:
HannahElisabeth (
Offline) - Published: August 6th, 2021 19:05
- Comment from author about the poem: I wrote this after taking a social psychology class and covering the now infamous Milgram shock experiments. It was a chilling and humbling reminder that the vast majority of us are capable of doing great harm whether we want to admit it or not.
- Category: Sociopolitical
- Views: 19
Offline)
Comments3
I remember reading about that experiment. Truly horrifying what people are capable of. Great write that captures the essence of that experiment perfectly.
Thanks for the reminder Hannah, It's been some time.....
You will probably (if you haven’t already) come across the Stanford Prison Experiment.
Both this and the Milgram have some commonalities and are the subject of much debate with respect to their validity, as is the mode within the social sciences which see debate and intellectual conflict a part of their rationale.
However History (another of the social sciences and in many ways the most interesting) provides evidence that at least the conclusions from these experiments have some validity. People have this innate desire to agree within their group. Conflict is inhibited there. They also submit to authority far more than they would care to believe…..and so on…
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Hi Doggerel Dave,
I'm sadly all too familiar with Philip Zimbardo and his studies. If you haven't checked it out already, the blue eyes brown eyes experiment by Jane Elliot falls into the same category. All the studies were attempts to understand the atrocities after WWII. The irony is, despite the worldwide moral outrage, these studies suggest the overwhelming majority of us (65 % in Milgram's first study) are capable of the same.
Unfortunately these experiments serve more as a warning to researchers on the ethics of deceit and weighing the costs and benefits of such studies regarding harm done to participants versus the insight we gain from them. A balance we all have to find when designing certain experiments. Some argue we gained more insight that outweighed the harm to participants, but the participants in both studies were deeply troubled after. As for validity, Milgram did very well to control his experiment. And other research backs it up. I can't say the same for Zimbardo and Jane Elliot, however.
But yes, in sum, group think is a dangerous thing and blindly obeying authority can make us do treacherous things if we don't question it. It truly blows my mind something as simple as 15 volt increases and a lab coat to indicate "authority" is all it takes to make people forget what they stand for... As this is a poetry forum, I won't write you an APA paper on all these topics but this is the very thing I seek to research for my dissertation. You might find the term "stochastic terrorism" interesting.
Thank you for the engaging commentary!
Thanks HannahE for the time you put into your response.
‘Understand the deep underlying motivation for these studies, which came with the shock of discovery after WW2 (although not all were unaware – but we won’t go there). So these studies and similar make plain those deficiencies in the human…character?.... and here I can only advocate for the discipline of History (incorporating as it does all the other social sciences) to provide answers to the question of how or what can be done.
Two points: History is possibly the most contestable of the social sciences (doesn’t make it any less valid though), plus even if positive conclusions can be drawn as to the optimum social conditions which would eliminate (moderate?) these undesirable human characteristics, this doesn’t mean they will be implemented…….
Thanks for ‘stochastic terrorism’. Freedom of speech is not an absolute right any more than poisoning the water supply is. And remedies are being canvassed right now, aren’t they? A long debate ensues with other ‘target groups’ produced in the process.
If we don't know our history, we are doomed to repeat it, right?
Somehow France managed to come in as the only culture not as susceptible to authoritarian influence.
I won't go down the rabbit hole regarding freedom of speech, although I will be cheeky here and say that with great power comes great responsibility...
History isn't exactly a science, but we do have a pretty good understanding of what the optimal social conditions are to reduce such atrocities. And I'm lucky enough to know an amazing researcher actively implementing her research to make those changes. One day I hope to do the same
Santayana definitely had it right - even if some (those in power) of the "we's" do not change for reasons which include economic interest, retention of power, and so on.
Those ‘optimal social conditions’ will have to incorporate insights from Sociology, Economics, the environment in the broad and local senses as well as Psychology, taking into account Politics in order to implement.
And I won’t go down the rabbit hole re what is or is not a science either…
The very best of luck with your work, Hannah
Highly likely you know of this one, but on the off chance you don't:
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/apr/16/a-real-life-lord-of-the-flies-the-troubling-legacy-of-the-robbers-cave-experiment
Thank you for the stimulating read today, I was in need of that. And I actually wasn't familiar with that study; we covered another one similar though. Boys were placed into three different camps with different leadership styles to see how they were affected. Thank you for teaching me something new!
Knew about it from way back....could only remember that 'Lord of the Flies' had some tenuous connection and extracted it out of Google eventually.
Increasingly my memory is subsumed by G. Transfer will be complete shortly.......
This is such a shocking poem…
Quite electrifying really...
Silly! Dad jokes aside, I really enjoyed how you presented this. The simplicity of the poem, in my opinion, captures the atmosphere very well, at face value, while the much deeper understanding is almost anxiety inducing and traumatic, as I imagine you were intending. It is superb in its delivery.
I both appreciate the dad jokes (the best kind, in my opinion) and the kind words; thank you!
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