The Death Of A Man 's Obedience

Obedience to people in authority is a deep-rooted trait that we all possess by virtue of our upbringing, and as Milgram put it, “it is only the person dwelling in isolation who is not forced to respond, with defiance or submission, to the commands of others” (Milgram 1974). This trait is exhibited every day in family circles, workplace and school. People are most likely to obey instructions from people they perceive their authority to be legal or moral. We see people obeying their pastors, leaders in various societies and other people they see as higher to them; and they obey anything they are being told even if it involves killing another human being. They justify their actions, however wrong, on obedience to authority.

What if one continued to do what they were told no matter the consequences? The author, Theodore Dalrymple, is a British physician who discusses why blind obedience is discouraged. His article, “ Just Do What the Pilot Tells You”, was first published in the New Statesman. In this specific article, he touches on points in our lives when we are supposed to do what we are told. Disobedience is when a person chooses to disobey some sort of order they were directed to do. The main point that the author is trying to make is that neither obedience or disobedience should be more prominent than the other. Although Dalrymple seems to be explaining reasons that people choose to obey or disobey, he is actually using these

“The Perils of Obedience” was written by Stanley Milgram in 1974. In the essay he describes his experiments on obedience to authority. I feel as though this is a great psychology essay and will be used in psychology 101 classes for generations to come. The essay describes how people are willing to do almost anything that they are told no matter how immoral the action is or how much pain it may cause.

Individuals often yield to conformity when they are forced to discard their individual freedom in order to benefit the larger group. Despite the fact that it is important to obey the authority, obeying the authority can sometimes be hazardous especially when morals and autonomous thought are suppressed to an extent that the other person is harmed. Obedience usually involves doing what a rule or a person tells you to but negative consequences can result from displaying obedience to authority for example; the people who obeyed the orders of Adolph Hitler ended up killing innocent people during the Holocaust. In the same way, Stanley Milgram noted in his article ‘Perils of Obedience’ of how individuals obeyed authority and

Obedience and Conformity Both obedience and conformity involve social pressure in obedience the pressure comes from behaving as you are instructed to do; whereas in conformity the pressure comes from group norms Behaviour in obedience is determined by social power, whereas in conformity it is influenced mostly by the need for acceptance. In nearly all societies, certain people are given power and authority over others. Our society, for example, parents, teachers, and managers are invested with various degrees of authority. Most of the time, this does not cause any problems.

Obedience as an act can be traced back to the very beginnings of human history. The common belief has always been to obey authority at all cost. This act has never been questioned because authority corresponds to the common belief that respecting authority and obeying them will lead you to success in all aspects of life. Obedience is not defined to specific situations and its context can be portrayed in various ways. For example, Erich Fromm writes in his essay, “Disobedience as a Psychological and Moral Problem; “Human history began with an act of disobedience, and it is not unlikely that it will be terminated by an act of disobedience.” This statement suggests that everything which we perceived to be

First, an individual usually internalizes compliance, but this is not necessarily the case in obedience. The latter can occur through internalization as well as through the existence of cognitive dissonance. In other words, conformity is a form of social influence that emanates from within the individual (Milgram, 2010). As it has been mentioned earlier, one does not have to be asked to do something for them to do it in the case of conformity. It is a decision they make due to the external pressures caused by group influence or the influence of another individual. Compliance is ethologically a survival tactic whereby one is forced to do certain things to fit in the group as doing the contrary will make them appear odd. This is not the case in

In society, obedience to authority is ingrained in humanity from an early age, causing some individuals to blindly obey orders without contemplating the credibility of the source. In psychoanalyst Erich Fromm’s article “Disobedience as a Psychological and Moral Problem,” he explains that throughout human history obedience has been associated with virtue and disobedience with sin (Fromm 127). Fromm suggests that our conscience is an internalized voice of authority (126). Fromm claims individuals need to distinguish the difference between rational and irrational authority because obedience is effective when individuals want to obey, instead of fearing to disobey (127). Two other authors who examine obedience are Herbert C. Kelman and V. Lee

An individual’s need to conform stems from our mental psychology, which is something we cannot usually change because it is in our nature. Guandong Song et al described conformity as “…a subject’s behavior or attitudes following those of the object. The subject is the individual who conforms. The object can be external or internal factors that cause conforming actions, in the form of individuals, groups, organizations,

We, as humans, like to believe that we always stand out in a crowd and never conform to please society. We hold our freedom to be individuals higher than most of our other freedoms. Humans believe that we always use this individualism to speak our opinions. We think that we would never change our views to comply with a group. As much as we would like to believe this, it seems that more often than not, we tend to follow the crowd. In her article “Group Minds”, Doris Lessing was on the right track when she described how humans stand for choice and individualism, but when faced with the situation, most tend to fall in line with the majority.

This experiment found that when a group of two other people refused to obey the conditions of the experiment, then the third person would most likely do the same.  It was found that, “The presence of others who are seen to disobey the authority figure reduces the level of obedience to 10%” (McLeod 588). A similar finding is noted in Solomon Asch’s “Opinions and Social Pressure”, where it was found that when someone is among their peers, they are more likely to conform to the group opinion. Asch acknowledges that social pressure plays a large role because the individual “must declare his judgments in public, before a majority which has also stated its position publicly” (Asch 599). This confirms the idea that an individual is more likely to conform when they are being judged by their

Throughout America’s educational system the idea of “be a leader not a follower” is often times presented to students. So the question is why do many fall into the follower category if we are encouraged to be individuals. Does it stem our natural instinct. Just think everyday we are told when to attend class, how long we should be at class, when assignments are due, and the list continues. This is just at school, think of the common rules that every American citizen follows. We are told, how fast we can drive, what you can’t say, and even where you can do thinks like smoke. So why do we conform? Why do the majority of the country follow or obey the rules?

People have been changing their behavior or obeying someone else’s commands for years. This continues today in our everyday lives. Conformity and obedience seem similar but differ in several ways. Conformity is defined by psychologists as a change in behavior or belief to accord with others. Similar to this, is obedience. Obedience is defined acting in accordance with a direct order or command. Normally people conform to reap a reward or to avoid punishment. If we comply with a direct order or command it is considered obedience. Most of the time when people comply, it is to be accepted among others so they are not seen as outsiders. On the other hand, when we obey, we are obeying a command an authority figure

which is false. Humans could be obedient if they trust their ruler and love him.

Obedience to authority is everywhere. Whether it is a student obeying the teacher, citizens following the laws or a child obeying his or her parents, there will always be a scenario of obedience to authority. There are different levels of obedience ranging from a group of people following their leader, such as on a sports team, to extreme religious cults. The word obedience come from the Latin word Obaudrie, which means to listen well. Obedience is defined as compliance to the plan; conformity to the pattern; observance of the rules; loyalty to the standards and submission to another's will. Obedience is carrying out the given direction cheerfully and quickly. Obedience is the bottom line of the Christian life yet it plays a vital role in the formation of character of a person. Obedience is part of the foundation of society. Without obedience, nothing would exist but chaos and confusion. Human individuality is often undermined by the blind obedience humans feel towards those in position of power. In order for humans to maintain their individuality and a stable society, a balance between obedience and independence must be found. To obey means doing what God says in the timing and manner that He says to do it. We must then know what His instructions are. We cannot comply with something we do not understand. The Holy Spirit assists us in relating God's commands to our situation and helps us determine the wise choice. The true meaning of obedience has changed over the course of