70. Influence of authority and the
social pressure of a group
The famous Milgram
experiment showed what evil everyday people can do
when they are ordered to. In the experiment, ÒexamineesÓ were hooked up to an
electric current in a sealed room (actually, conspirators connected to no real
current whatsoever) while on the other side of glass, the ÒparticipantsÓ had
access to a dial which allowed them to control the flow to electricity to the
victim. 66% of the participants increased the voltage all the way to 400
volts—a mortal dose—when they were ordered to by
a researcher, even when the ÒvictimÓ begged them to stop. In this
experiment, factors such as authority, the remoteness of the victim and the
influence of similar behavior by being in the same room with other people in
the same role all combined together to cause people to take actions which were
ostensibly horrible. The same factors apply to us when we estimate the risk
connected with some future factor or technology. The potential victims, even if
our future selves are among them, are far away from us in time and space that
if a strong authority expresses favor in the dangerous technology, and we are
surrounded and influenced by a group of people apt to do the same thing, all of
these factors will strongly influence our choice.