The Justification Of Nazi Officer s Actions During World...

Everyone has been there before. You re walking in public, whether it be in a school setting, a workplace, or elsewhere, and you feel an overwhelming feeling of being watched and judged. Whether it is your dabblings in romance, performance in sports events, clothing, or otherwise, we feel the need to compare ourselves to and identify with the societal â€Å"norms† around us. It is better to thrive as a sheep than to starve as a wolf, as the saying goes. This is what is known as conformity and it has been with us from time immemorial. In 1963, Stanley Milgram, a psychologist at Yale University investigated the conflict of consciousness and morality, their clash with the desire to follow directions. Milgram wanted to explore the justifications of†¦show more content†¦The control panel was adorned with 30 switches, labeled from 15 volts or a slight shock to 450 volts, which was labeled â€Å"XXX†, implying a lethal dose of voltage. However, the voltage was labeled incorrectly and inflated as to intimidate the subject. As the rooms were adjacent, the subject could hear Milgram’s colleagues cry out in agony when they were shocked, and the subject began to start questioning the researcher about the condition of their â€Å"student† and asked, and eventually demanded that they could leave. Each time, the researcher would provide a prod to continue forth. If one prod was disobeyed, then the researcher would escalate to the next prod. The prods were â€Å"1. Please continue.†, 2. †Å"The experiment requires that you continue.†, 3. â€Å"It is absolutely essential that you continue.†, and 4. â€Å"You have no other choice than to continue.† After eighteen variations on the study, Milgram found that 65% of all participants continued to the supposed 450 volts and all participants went to at least 300 volts. Milgram concluded that ordinary people tend to follow an authority figure in a group, even to the torture and killing of a human being, if the authority’s actions seem to be rooted in correct morality and/or legality. In Psychology, this is what as known as â€Å"prestige suggestion†. After World War II, Milgram’s overseer duringShow MoreRelatedThe Holocaust : The Destruction Of The Jews1717 Words   |  7 Pagesinferior (The Holocaust Chronicle Appendices). The Holocaust began with the boycott of Jewish businesses, and ended in camps such as Auschwitz. The destruction of the Jews was made possibly with the rise of Adolf Hitler to power, as he and his fellow Nazi followers attempted to exterminate the Jewish populace of Europe. In the paragraphs to follow I will attempt to explain the reasons, as well as the implications of the Holocaust. 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