Not long ago a friend of mine told me he never questions authority. As we are both, in a manner of speaking, children of the sixties, I was somewhat shocked to hear him say this. Although it may not have been wise at the time, I started questioning my father when I was about ten years old. It turns out he was right, but that is not the point. It is especially not the point once you become an adult.
As children we are taught not to question parents, teachers and other authoritative figures such as police officers and the school principle. And rightly so, for the obvious reason we need protection from that which we don’t yet understand. At some point in life, it is imperative that we learn to think critically about all authority that governs us, i.e. for the same reason, we need to protect ourselves and those around us. To our misfortune, most of us never learn the latter half of this principle.
Psychological experiments over the last 40 plus years have proven that people are afraid to resist or object to authority, even knowing they will harm someone. The two best known procedures were conducted in an attempt to explain the Nazi prison camps during WW-II. The Stanford prison experiment in 1971, and the Milgram experiment in 1974 both concluded that the majority of people will conform to authority regardless of the consequences.
In the Milgram experiment, a “teacher” and a “learner” were involved. The teacher was instructed to deliver an increasingly powerful shock to the learner (a confederate) for each error the learner made while answering the test subject’s (teacher) questions. The majority of participants would continue to deliver shocks up to the maximum amount despite hearing the learner’s screams of agony and even not hearing any sounds at all once a certain voltage was reached.
With the Stanford prison experiment, twenty-four undergraduates were selected to play the roles of guards and prisoners and live in a mock prison in the basement of the Stanford psychology building. One-third of the guards were judged to have exhibited “genuine” sadistic tendencies, while many prisoners were emotionally traumatized and two had to be removed from the experiment early.
To learn more about this phenomenon, similar experiments have been carried out in Europe and other parts of the world. The results vary from country to country of course, but human beings in general are afraid to defy authority, even when they know they are right. We see this in everyday life. An example is the legality of something versus the moral obligation to do no harm to a fellow human being. In other words, simply because a thing is illegal does not make it right.
Most of us would like to think we would take the high ground and do the right thing when confronted with a situation like this. The fact is, unless you have been tested you don’t really know; the best you can do is be aware of your thinking, and hope you will. I believe I will, because I have been tested, in the most demanding way I know.
I was in the US Army three years in the late sixties. In the military, obeying orders without question is imperative - otherwise an army could not function effectively. In most cases this is not a problem, given the circumstances of warfare. However, certain situations may come about, requiring you to either conform or sacrifice yourself for principle.
Early on, I decided that there were specific things I would not do, even if it meant I would die or go to prison. For example, I would refuse to be on a firing squad. I would kill someone if necessary to save my life, I would not torture people. I would not kill anyone who was not trying to kill me. I will stick with these principles all my life. More than once I was tested under fire, and I stood by my decisions. This does not mean I am superior. It means I had a prior understanding about authority, and made conscious decisions about living with my actions.
Some questions to consider:
Are you afraid of a cop who you believe has overstepped his authority?
Have you examined your religious beliefs, or do you believe what your parents taught you?
Is your doctor “always right?”
Would you question your supervisor?
Do you believe if you exercise and eat the right foods you can live to be 100 years old?
Should critical thinking be a part of any school curriculum?
These questions may sound rather elementary for those who question even a little. Of course, in most circumstances you need to obey doctors, and your boss if you want to continue your life as it is. However, “follow the doctors order” is ignorance exemplified if you fail to examine what he says and ask questions. This may be one of the most “blind obedience” issues that exists.
Blind faith, a religious concept that has caused so much human misery, is another notion that I will never understand. Yet another issue I see that causes me to doubt humanity’s ability to judge right from wrong is urban legends. From the ignorant to the well-educated, this junk soars around the Internet. Even after pointing out that most “pass it to everyone” messages are nearly always wrong, they continue to be accepted without question.
Finally, even if you do think and question, it is of no value unless you can substantiate your reasoning. Rhetorical bullshit is so prevalent it is often hard to separate the chaff from the grain. Emotion gets in the way of common sense and reason. Questioning without reason is merely annoying.
Note: I wrote this article in June, 2008. The NYT posted an article July 1, 2008 about the same experiments. This is a great follow-up to the original experiments, with additional work still in progress at Ohio State University.
“The most remarkable thing,” Dr. Burger said, “is that we’re still talking about the work, almost 50 years after it was done. You can’t say that about many experiments.”
