The Milgram Experiment

[The Unnamable]

Let me ask this, the very act of your feeling of compassion towards the weak/suffering, not just you, but me, and millions of others, doesn't that bring a sense of optimism? Can we set up an experiment that would be the opposite of the Milgram experiment, where we bring forth a person suffering, howling in agony at the top of his lungs, and another person who has the means of easying the suffering (through an application of drugs). Wouldn't you think that the percentage of people easying the suffering would be higher than the hurtful of the Migram experiment? I would. And therefore I believe that humanity is predomintly good.

“Do not despair; one of the thieves was saved. Do not presume; one of the thieves was hanged.”

Perhaps someone out there knows of an experiment similar to Milgram’s but providing more welcome conclusions. I did see a (very unscientific) version on a small scale carried out by some television journalists. They took a young female actress, about 11 years old and dressed her to look like a runaway. She was then asked to sit looking distressed in the opening to an alley just off a shopping area. They filmed the reactions of strangers walking past her. Less than ten per cent of men stopped and tried to intervene in the situation of seeing a vulnerable young girl on her own. Just over 50 per cent of women did. Interestingly, when they later asked some of those who had ignored the girl’s plight why they hadn’t helped her, a number of the men pointed out that the present climate of the tyranny of political correctness made them very wary of stopping to speak to a young girl, especially one that could have been a vulnerable runaway.

On your other point, perhaps the following is relevant. In the UK a while ago, the legal guidelines concerning taking students on school educational visits were changed. It was deemed unacceptable for any teacher who had a child of his or her own on such a trip to be the sole teacher in charge. This is because it was felt that in the event, say, of a bus crash, the teacher who is a parent would probably try to save his or her own child first.

A number of years ago I saved someone from drowning. I can remember watching a TV programme where a man who had rushed into a burning building to save a child was interviewed. He said that he just did it without thinking, almost as if it was instinctive. It wasn’t like that for me. I remember thinking that it might be dangerous to jump the water and try to help him because his arms were flailing about violently. I think a part of what made me jump in was my awareness that I should do and this is, to a large extent, socially conditioned. I also felt really pleased with myself afterwards and wonder how big a part is played by simple vanity.


I don’t share your positive view of humanity. However, I am always humbled (yes, it is possible) whenever I read Anne Frank’s diary entry reading, “I still believe, in spite of everything, that people are truly good at heart.” She had more reason than most to believe the opposite and yet this remarkable young girl kept faith with us.

[Virgil]

“Do not despair; one of the thieves was saved. Do not presume; one of the thieves was hanged.”

Perhaps someone out there knows of an experiment similar to Milgram’s but providing more welcome conclusions. I did see a (very unscientific) version on a small scale carried out by some television journalists. They took a young female actress, about 11 years old and dressed her to look like a runaway. She was then asked to sit looking distressed in the opening to an alley just off a shopping area. They filmed the reactions of strangers walking past her. Less than ten per cent of men stopped and tried to intervene in the situation of seeing a vulnerable young girl on her own. Just over 50 per cent of women did. Interestingly, when they later asked some of those who had ignored the girl’s plight why they hadn’t helped her, a number of the men pointed out that the present climate of the tyranny of political correctness made them very wary of stopping to speak to a young girl, especially one that could have been a vulnerable runaway.

On your other point, perhaps the following is relevant. In the UK a while ago, the legal guidelines concerning taking students on school educational visits were changed. It was deemed unacceptable for any teacher who had a child of his or her own on such a trip to be the sole teacher in charge. This is because it was felt that in the event, say, of a bus crash, the teacher who is a parent would probably try to save his or her own child first.
A number of years ago I saved someone from drowning. I can remember watching a TV programme where a man who had rushed into a burning building to save a child was interviewed. He said that he just did it without thinking, almost as if it was instinctive. It wasn’t like that for me. I remember thinking that it might be dangerous to jump the water and try to help him because his arms were flailing about violently. I think a part of what made me jump in was my awareness that I should do and this is, to a large extent, socially conditioned. I also felt really pleased with myself afterwards and wonder how big a part is played by simple vanity.

That's not vanity. You ought to be proud. That was heroic.

As to that hypothetical experiment I mentioned. In effect, I see that experiment every night. My father is in a nursing home on a ventilator. I visit him every night on my way home from work. The aids and nurses there try to do their best for all the patients. My father is not too bad. Hopefully he may make it home when he's weaned off the machine. But some of the other patients are in such bad shape. Such suffering, and yet such compassion.