I've been thinking a lot about the mention of Milgram's experiment the other day and it reminded me of watching Derren Brown's social experiments. One of these is called The Gameshow and offers fascinating insight into how people act when they are masked and in control of another's fortune. It feels reminiscent to Zimardo's Stanford Prison Experiment (I think I'm going to do a post on this tomorrow).
The link for this if anyone wants to watch it is here: https://www.channel4.com/programmes/derren-brown-the-specials/on-demand/47993-002 . It is honestly quite harrowing the extent that people go to and the lack of empathy showed when they are in a group of people acting the same. He has done many other experiments in this season and it is a modern day study. We'd all like to think that we would never go through with the acts in Milgram's, Zimbardo's or even Derren Brown's study. It is quite scary to consider what we are all capable of.
I've always enjoyed the work of Derren Brown including his utterly incredible caricatures. His books are really good too.
The interesting thing about Derren Brown's work, is that while there is some constraint on what he's allowed to do, he may not be bound by the same ethical guidelines that modern researchers adhere to.
I think studies like Milgram's illustrated that obedience is only bad when we adhere to it without questioning what that authority figure is asking you to do. A certain level of obedience allows society to continue, but without reason and you may descend into some truly atrocious and cruel acts.
Great post - glad I found a fellow Brown fan 😁