It's scary how much people abide by rules just because they are rules. The Milgram experiment exposed this long ago, and I have a hard time believing we've changed all that much.
Reason is not used in most people's decision making process. Obedience to the status quo is much more likely, unfortunately.
Yes and no. The Milgram experiment normally came out with 65% compliance. In a world where there is so much emphasis put on conformity and obdedience, maybe we should be delighted that 35% are willing to say no.
In my estimation, factors that are likely to drive that number up are likely to be much stronger in coming years - the Internet and related technologies that give access to information, psychedelic drugs which give greater perspective and, in the best cases, freedom from previous conditioning, and alternative schooling systems.
People might not have changed much yet, but we're just getting started.
I appreciate the glass-half-full perspective on the Milgram experiment. I've always been discouraged by those results, but you're right: 35% ain't so bad.
Didn't someone recently run another study to reproduce Milgram's authority study? I'm too lazy to look it up right now... Lol
I found some information about that here
They say 90% went all the way, but it's different to Milgram because the highest level in this case didn't reach a fatal level.
A similar experiment says around 79%.