Richiepiep
Administrator
I'm surprised no one has picked up on this yet. It's not on the TV.com allusions list for the episode, for instance.
In this episode, Mr Herkabe mentions that the 'Milgram experiment' showed how students are willing to obey their teachers, even if they make unreasonable demands. Unlike the 'Krelboyne' name or other made-up MITM references, this isn't just a random term. When I worked at the Psychology Department of my university, I learned that there actually was a Milgram experiment, and that it was quite legendary, notoriously so, in those circles.
In the experiment, conducted by Stanley Milgram, an experimenter instructed a participant, acting as a teacher, to administer electric shocks to another, unseen participant if the latter failed to memorize and replicate previously heard word pairs. The 'learner' was actually an actor instructed to make mistakes and produce screams. Surprisingly few participants questioned, let alone aborted the experiments. It makes fascinating and disconcerting reading on people's lack of moral fibre when an authority figure is around guiding them.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milgram_experiment
YouTube-hosted documentary in five parts:
Edit: Aw shucks, stupid copyright claims! If even universities claim copyright on nearly 4 decade-old documentaries (and this is just for viewing, mind), I wonder what this is doing for promoting science among the masses as a valid subject and a way to advance society!
Rich
In this episode, Mr Herkabe mentions that the 'Milgram experiment' showed how students are willing to obey their teachers, even if they make unreasonable demands. Unlike the 'Krelboyne' name or other made-up MITM references, this isn't just a random term. When I worked at the Psychology Department of my university, I learned that there actually was a Milgram experiment, and that it was quite legendary, notoriously so, in those circles.
In the experiment, conducted by Stanley Milgram, an experimenter instructed a participant, acting as a teacher, to administer electric shocks to another, unseen participant if the latter failed to memorize and replicate previously heard word pairs. The 'learner' was actually an actor instructed to make mistakes and produce screams. Surprisingly few participants questioned, let alone aborted the experiments. It makes fascinating and disconcerting reading on people's lack of moral fibre when an authority figure is around guiding them.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milgram_experiment
YouTube-hosted documentary in five parts:
Edit: Aw shucks, stupid copyright claims! If even universities claim copyright on nearly 4 decade-old documentaries (and this is just for viewing, mind), I wonder what this is doing for promoting science among the masses as a valid subject and a way to advance society!
Rich
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