by Thomas Blass
This book is a biography of Stanley Milgram, the famed experimental psychologist. As far as biographies goes it was certainly fairly standard, with a mix of interesting character analysis and typical (if bland) biographical details.
I find Milgrams ideas and experimental methods interesting, but I don't know if I feel very sure as to whether his experiments were the best way to empirically prove research points. While his shock experiments were certainly enlightening, it seems unclear as to what exactly he thought this would prove about obedience. It showed that within the circumstance of a procedure perceived to be some sort of experiment people would be obedient to a distressing degree, but he did not seem to dig deeper to find out why people acted like that and whether the results could be reproduced in different sorts of situations.
Milgram most certainly shocked the world, but what he meant to do with his controversial experiments is still somewhat unclear to me.
His shock experiment does leave a lot unanswered. Perhaps if people were told they were doing something pleasant to someone, their obedience would be different. The experiment itself might be the cause then. People are less likely to obey someone if they know they are going to hurt another person. Anyone trying to conduct their own obedience experiments today would really have to come up with some new ideas that are more ethical to the people they are experimenting on.
ReplyDeleteIt does seem that the author and Milgram leave a lot up to how you use the results Milgram found. The question remains: what gives the human mind enough leeway to continue on against its better judgement?
ReplyDeleteAnd better yet: what kind of work can we, as computer scientists, do to inhibit the improper uses of our own technology for unethical use?