Decades Later Still Asking: Would I Pull That Switch
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July 14, 2008
(The New York Times, July 1, 2008) The article "Decades Later Still Asking: Would I Pull That Switch" shares data from several recent reports that take a closer look at Stanley Milgram's famous research on obedience in the early 1960s. Motivated by the Holocaust, Milgram wanted to better understand why ordinary bureaucrats followed orders that resulted in the death of millions of innocent women, children and men. This article explains how psychologists continue to gain insights about human behavior from studying Milgram's findings.
Discussion Questions
- Referring
to Milgram’s experiment, Professor Dr. Jerry Burger asserts, “The most
remarkable thing is that we’re still talking about the work, almost 50 years
after it was done. You can’t say that about many experiments.” Why do you think this is the case? What is
the relevance of Milgram’s study today? Do you predict that people will still
be referring to this study 20 years from now? Fifty years from now? Explain
your answer.
- What
is the relationship between obedience and human rights? When do you think honoring human rights is
more valuable than obeying authority?
- According
to this article, what did Milgram’s study tell us about obedience? What didn’t
it tell us? What more would you like to know?
Note: The media selections posted in Facing Today do not necessarily represent the views of Facing History and Ourselves.
