A popular area of knowledge that has challenged the minds of many and continues to evolve over the years is the humanities. Psychological experiments frequently disprove older understandings and new theories are accepted. They help us learn and understand why human culture is the way it is. Without this discipline it would be difficult to categorize the way humans would act in different situations. Within the humanities, the theory of human obedience and conformity has sparked much controversy and relates to larger issues. Better known as the agentic state theory, it is important to consider its applications because on the extremes it can account for events from human survival to catastrophic disasters. If I were to construct a course to educate
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A thought experiment is to conduct a scientific experiment, however the variables being tested are altered by imagination. Imagine if Adolf Hitler conveyed through his speeches that Nazi soldiers could stop their actions if they felt uncomfortable, and that at the end of the day they were individually responsible for their actions. If this was the case then Nazi soldiers would have showed weakness, and would have been incapable of committing such acts of violence without feeling any remorse. This shows that Milgram 's experiment was correct in it assertion that authoritative figures can induce obedience by taking away one 's feeling of …show more content…
Sufficient reasoning means that everything must have a reason, cause, or ground. The theory provides evidence that it is true in different contexts. Although the implications of obedience may seem negative, it is important to consider instances where obedience also produces favorable results. For example, during World War II a team of mathematicians led by Alan Turing secretly cracked the Enigma code. The Enigma code was a type of enciphering machine used by the German forces to send messages securely. Although the team understood the code, they had to pretend that they did not in order to prevent the Germans from reconfiguring the machine, which they were capable of doing overnight. One of the mathematicians on the team had a brother who was a crew member on a ship that the Germans were planning on secretly attacking. The mathematician could not say or do anything to his brother in order to keep the secret (Kate Clements). Arguably, World War II was shortened by 2 years when the allies could decipher the messages and the Germans did not know it, allowing them to strategically plan the Normandy invasion. The team of mathematicians had to stay obedient to the leader who ordered them not to inform anyone. This example demonstrates how sufficient reasoning is provided for the agentic state theory, and how it is
A thought experiment is to conduct a scientific experiment, however the variables being tested are altered by imagination. Imagine if Adolf Hitler conveyed through his speeches that Nazi soldiers could stop their actions if they felt uncomfortable, and that at the end of the day they were individually responsible for their actions. If this was the case then Nazi soldiers would have showed weakness, and would have been incapable of committing such acts of violence without feeling any remorse. This shows that Milgram 's experiment was correct in it assertion that authoritative figures can induce obedience by taking away one 's feeling of …show more content…
Sufficient reasoning means that everything must have a reason, cause, or ground. The theory provides evidence that it is true in different contexts. Although the implications of obedience may seem negative, it is important to consider instances where obedience also produces favorable results. For example, during World War II a team of mathematicians led by Alan Turing secretly cracked the Enigma code. The Enigma code was a type of enciphering machine used by the German forces to send messages securely. Although the team understood the code, they had to pretend that they did not in order to prevent the Germans from reconfiguring the machine, which they were capable of doing overnight. One of the mathematicians on the team had a brother who was a crew member on a ship that the Germans were planning on secretly attacking. The mathematician could not say or do anything to his brother in order to keep the secret (Kate Clements). Arguably, World War II was shortened by 2 years when the allies could decipher the messages and the Germans did not know it, allowing them to strategically plan the Normandy invasion. The team of mathematicians had to stay obedient to the leader who ordered them not to inform anyone. This example demonstrates how sufficient reasoning is provided for the agentic state theory, and how it is