Poll: You're in the Milgram Experiment!

[Mad World]

I'd stop. There's no way I'd keep on shocking him; it would have been obvious that he was in too much pain. Also, I wouldn't trust the psychologist (for obvious reasons).

 

[Glademaster_v1legacy]

I would discontinue once it gets to lethal levels like over 400 volts. No one is making me stay so there is no reason to. Also since I didn't know he was an actor I would think I was actually killing him. Regardless of any ethics I am not going to prison for man slaughter/murder which I would if he were being shocked and died. So ethics aside I wouldn't due to having to go to prison. I seriously doubt there would be the proper legal documents to get me out of that. If it is for Science can he not press the button himself or just get someone else to do it.

 

[lionsprey]

Well first of, I doubt I would participate in any survey/experiment if it involved causing harm/strong discomfort but if I ended up in that chair i would most likely not only stop pushing the button i would also call the police or punch the psychologist in the face or help the man get out/take him to the hospital (or at least as far as i would make it before they reviled the truth).
kinda risking to sound like a bad saturdaymorning cartoon but i would do it becouse i'm a good guy deep down that wants to make the world a better place.
although i have opinions on what should be done with people like the psychologist and it ain't pretty so im not a saint.

 

[bluefiresword]

As one who is against suffering, Especial inflicted on to somebody who cant fight back or do anything, I would stop the moment the pain sounded more worrying than a jolt, like with one of those shock pens. If he told me to continue, I would until the pain sounded very bad and he starts banging. I would then turn to the leader of the experiment, and demand he lets him go. If he didn't I Would still insist. If he still carried on, I would get violent.

I hate pain, And having someone inflict it without the chance to fight back is despicable and is sicking to me. to inflict pain without the chance of pain to yourself is cowardly under certain conditions.

No offense to anyone, I just Hate suffering and to inflict it to others without a good reason is just plain wrong.

 

[Vanaron]

I can't tell you how many times I told myself that the next time I saw my ex I would act like the charming, confident and successful man I know I am. But then I'd see her and act like a timid and insecure child she so believes I am...

The point being what you think you would do and what you end up doing in a certain situation are almost never the same, since we tend to underestimate the situation and overestimate our ability to act like rational independent people instead of emotional and easily influenced sheep.

Going against our nature is a tough feat, no matter how much of a unique snowflake you think you are, you're still human and as such susceptible to social pressure.

 

[Matt_LRR]

- Causing harm, pain and a potentially lethal amount damage to a human being is all that I can understand in the situation where I'm given no other information
- I don't accept the authority of a figure until I have a reason to
- I have the option of going on or stopping. Someone else's study that I know nothing about is less important to me than pain, damage and potential death of another human being
- I don't need social support to know inflicting pain and possible death is wrong
- See point about contractual obligation

It's a whole lot easier to rationalize the situation when you're not in it - that's the point. This experiment demonstrated the effects of a bunch of different fairly well understood psychological effects interacting to cause people to act in ways that they themselves could never see themselves acting.

It's worth noting that even among the people who didn't complete the experiment, not even one demanded that the [fictitious] study be halted nor did any go to check the condition of the man that had been shocked. Such are the pressures in play here. Even the people who wanted out only wanted out. They didn't want to stop it, they didn't really care how the other guy was doing, they just wanted to not be the one to do it.

That's telling as hell.

-m

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

Difficult. I know enough about the Milgram experiment to recognise it, and I'd be tempted to deliberately stop because of that.

 

[HT_Black]

I'd skip the "demand to leave" part and go directly to hitting the psychologist for two reasons: one, having been on the recieving end of 1000 volts in times past, I know it's really quite unpleasant so I wouldn't want to inflict it on anyone else; and two: I have a compulsion to hit anyone who gives me orders of any kind.

I don't think this counts, though.

 

[Agent Larkin]

Unless I actually have to experience it first hand I don't know what my reaction would be.

 

[Dystopia]

I love the amount of people who 'don't listen to authority'. Did you never go to school? Don't you have jobs? Do you DRIVE?

Also I don't know what I would do, it's too difficult to guess if you're not in that situation. I suspect I'd carry on, maybe not until the end, but it'd be a slow process and there would be tears....

 

[inFAMOUSCowZ]

for the good of science, and no consequences.....DO IT!!!

 

[Cliff_m85]

Hello Escapies or Escapists or Escaponites!

I have been meaning to ask this question for quite some time, well basically ever since I finished reading about the Milgram Experiment...

Okay I will give a brief explanation of the Milgram Experiment. The Milgram experiment was devised by Stanley Milgram a psychologist at Yale University in 1961.

Spoiler: Shortened for Length

The subject was given the title teacher, and the confederate, learner. The participants drew slips of paper to 'determine' their roles. Unknown to them, both slips said "teacher", and the actor claimed to have the slip that read "learner", thus guaranteeing that the participant would always be the "teacher". At this point, the "teacher" and "learner" were separated into different rooms where they could communicate but not see each other. In one version of the experiment, the confederate was sure to mention to the participant that he had a heart condition.[1]
The "teacher" was given an electric shock from the electro-shock generator as a sample of the shock that the "learner" would supposedly receive during the experiment. The "teacher" was then given a list of word pairs which he was to teach the learner. The teacher began by reading the list of word pairs to the learner. The teacher would then read the first word of each pair and read four possible answers. The learner would press a button to indicate his response. If the answer was incorrect, the teacher would administer a shock to the learner, with the voltage increasing in 15-volt increments for each wrong answer. If correct, the teacher would read the next word pair.[1]
The subjects believed that for each wrong answer, the learner was receiving actual shocks. In reality, there were no shocks. After the confederate was separated from the subject, the confederate set up a tape recorder integrated with the electro-shock generator, which played pre-recorded sounds for each shock level. After a number of voltage level increases, the actor started to bang on the wall that separated him from the subject. After several times banging on the wall and complaining about his heart condition, all responses by the learner would cease.[1]
At this point, many people indicated their desire to stop the experiment and check on the learner. Some test subjects paused at 135 volts and began to question the purpose of the experiment. Most continued after being assured that they would not be held responsible. A few subjects began to laugh nervously or exhibit other signs of extreme stress once they heard the screams of pain coming from the learner.[1]
If at any time the subject indicated his desire to halt the experiment, he was given a succession of verbal prods by the experimenter, in this order:[1]
Please continue.
The experiment requires that you continue.
It is absolutely essential that you continue.
You have no other choice, you must go on.
If the subject still wished to stop after all four successive verbal prods, the experiment was halted. Otherwise, it was halted after the subject had given the maximum 450-volt shock three times in succession.

Too Long To Read Version: Your in a room with two other people, one is a psychologist sitting in a corner. The other is a nice man who you talk to for a while, this nice man mentions he has a heart problem. The nice man than gives you a small shock through a machine too demonstrate the feeling the nice man would receive later, when you administer it. Now the nice man is sent out of the room and into another room directly in front of yours, you know he is wired up to a machine that you are using, although you cannot see him. The psychologist gestures for you to proceed, so you stat reading out certain word pairs that you are made to read and you also read out 4 possible answers. If the nice man gets an answer wrong you are told to shock him with the machine, now it is wise to note that each shock goes up by 15 volts.

A while later the machine is starting to produce dangerous electrical shocks, shocks with over 400 volts. Now you can hear the nice man screaming and banging his head against the wall, you can hear him crying and begging for mercy, you can hear him wailing the he has a heart problem and he begs you to stop. As you are on the verge of leaving the psychologist tells you too keep going, that it won't be your fault if the man dies, although you don't want to because it is fatally dangerous to the man in the other room, so do you keep going or do you demand to leave?

Unknown to you the nice man in the other room was an actor, he was never being shocked although you thought he was.

Basically here is the question: Would you keep going for science, because the psychologist told you too or for your own reasons? Or would you demand to leave, that this is inhumane, that it is terrible?

Please give me some serious answers, and to anyone willing to wright a detailed comment on exactly how you would react under the circumstances, thank you. This will be quite helpful for me.

PS: This is the wikipage: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milgram_experiment

Can't say as the study is ruined when the subject knows it's a shill.

 

[Cliff_m85]

Difficult. I know enough about the Milgram experiment to recognise it, and I'd be tempted to deliberately stop because of that.

If you knew it was the experiment then there'd be no reason to stop. You could troll the doctor by demanding they shock 'em to death and laugh maniacially.

 

[rutger5000]

Thank you I always forget the name of the experiment Milgram Experiment. Would I continue? No absolutely not, and I'll probably kill myself the day I start doubting that. I always defined humans as beings that would not continue, and homosapiens as beings that happen to be of the same race as humans, but would continue the experiment.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

Difficult. I know enough about the Milgram experiment to recognise it, and I'd be tempted to deliberately stop because of that.

If you knew it was the experiment then there'd be no reason to stop. You could troll the doctor by demanding they shock 'em to death and laugh maniacially.

Yeah, but I have to go with my conscience which would force me to stop as soon as I heard the discomfort and possibly lamp the doctor if he didn't.

Can't stand screaming.

 

[Frozen Donkey Wheel2]

I'm going to make a prediction.

The majority of the people in this thread are going to say "no way, I'd totally stop!"

The majority of those people will be wrong.

-m

I noticed you didn't actually answer the question.(NOTE: There are 3 pages of this thread I haven't read, so if you actually DID answer it later, you can obviously ignore this)

OT: Honestly?.......I probably wouldn't stop until very late into the experiment, if at all. Although if the voltage got high enough, I think I'd figure out it was fake.

Seriously, though. That experiment is pretty twisted.

 

[TWRule]

I can honestly say that I would not press the button, and it's not because of some vague moral intuition.

The psychologist telling me "you aren't responsible" is meaningless to me. They might take legal responsibility, but I know full well that I will still have moral responsibility. Because it's my choice whether to continue or stop, given the knowledge of potential consequences, I am never free of that responsibility. Therefore, I would not proceed with the experiment.

 

[Matt_LRR]

I'm going to make a prediction.

The majority of the people in this thread are going to say "no way, I'd totally stop!"

The majority of those people will be wrong.

-m

I noticed you didn't actually answer the question.(NOTE: There are 3 pages of this thread I haven't read, so if you actually DID answer it later, you can obviously ignore this)

OT: Honestly?.......I probably wouldn't stop until very late into the experiment, if at all. Although if the voltage got high enough, I think I'd figure out it was fake.

Seriously, though. That experiment is pretty twisted.

I haven't per se answered the question in the thread, because it's impossible to know. i have however, discussed the experiment at length in this thread, so based on those comments myopinion should be pretty clear. Most people complete the experiment, and of those that don't, most still go along way past the point that they are inflicting harm.

I would probably go along with it most of, if not all the way, just like virtually everyone else would.

-m

 

[Sion_Barzahd]

The fact of the matter is that near everyone that underwent the Milgram experiment (and almost all of the ones who underwent his later variant of the same experiment) did actually proceed to the end.

So a poll wouldn't be accurate. Its one of those things you wouldn't know the answer to until you're in the situation yourself.