Obedience is something we all have been doing for our whole lives it becomes human nature to listen to someone with power and it would be terrifying not obey to that person in power. According to the article, The Perils of Obedience Stanley Milgram conducted an experiment about how an authority figure is able to give demands and the participants follow these demands even if someone is getting hurt. Before the experiment, Milgram states Obedience is as basic an element in the structure of social life as one can point to (44). Obedience is something built into us: Β Obedience is a deeply ingrained behavior tendency& overriding training in ethics, sympathy, and moral conduct (44). Milgrams experiment shows how one participant resisted the orders of the experimenter and in response, the experimenter persisted him to follow the orders given to him. The participant said, I cant stand it, Im going to kill that man in there& Im not going to get that man sick in there (47). The experimenter keeps on persisting
for the participant to keep going, The experiment requires that you continue& Whether the learner likes it or not, we must go on& Its absolutely essential that you continue (47-48). The participant is scared of what the experimenter would do to him if he didnt listen.
What emerges from the Milgram experiment is that the participant refused to listen to the higher authoritys (which in this case was the experimenterΒs) demands by not following through. Obedience is something we have been wired to do since the day we were born. It has been rooted in our human consciousness that a lot of people dont even question if orders from an authority figure they have good intentions or not. In the experiment, the participant was scared of hurting another individual by not following the orders he was given. The participant was also scared of ruining the results of the whole experiment if he didnt listen. The participant was going to have to obey the demands no matter what or he might receive some kind of punishment.