The place we cannot see!

In 1961 Stanley Milgram (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_Milgram) started a series of experiments. The aim of the experiments was to measure the willingness of people to follow order from a figure of authority. The experiments involved the – false – administration of electric shocks to a Student by a volunteer Teacher under the control of an Experimenter.

The Experiment

The Student was identified as a volunteer, but was actually just acting in the role. The Teacher was provided with a button to administer the shocks and a dial to increase the charge. As the experiment advanced, they were directed by the Experimenter to increase the electrical charge administered.

When the Teacher could either see or see and hear the Learner receive the - fake – shocks, at a certain point they would refuse to continue. However, when they could not see, but could only hear they would continue, in a majority of cases (65%) to a point that in reality they would have killed the ‘Learner’.

But this is an old experiment!

Before you dismiss the experiment as old and no longer relevant, similar experiments been repeated multiple times worldwide since then worldwide and although the detailed numbers may vary, the essential outcome remains the same. The majority of people tested will continue until the recipient has ‘died’.

So what’s the point?

There are two main interpretations for this experiment:

The first interpretation relates to the dangers of obedience. This experiment is seen to demonstrate the same mindset that allowed The Holocaust. At a certain point, many will shift to allow themselves to become and instrument or a conduit for someone else’s orders. When questioned, they will reply that they were “Just following orders”, they relinquish control and responsibility to another and therefore it is not their fault. This argument is clearly recognizable as that presented repeatedly at War Crimes trials. The clear and powerful lines of authority allowing a collapse of self-purpose, a relinquishing of direction to the chain of command.

The second interpretation relates to social pressure and group conditioning. The volunteer knows that he is a part of a study and is not therefore the first to experience this situation. Under pressure he falls in with the tacit assumption that others have done the same. In much the same way that many will usually go along with the majority (The Emperors New Clothes - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Emperor's_New_Clothes) this encourages the subject to accept the expert who is controlling him.

Why is this experiment important today?

By reflecting upon these aspects of human nature, we can see how this behavior now creates a greater threat to us all.

Blind Obedience

As individuals we find the conceptualization of the future difficult. Clearly we can do so and have a specific part of our brain designed to do just that – the prefrontal cortex. But like any organ in the body, it will not engage and burn more energy unless it has to. In situations where it believes that a higher authority is available, then it will comfortably relinquish control and allow the decision to have already been made. The blind obedience that traditional teaching methods once expected. Modern media is happily stepping into the role of higher authority.

The Implications of Our Actions

Additionally, under stressful situations (such as the conditions created in the experiment) we disengage from it. (The same happens under the influence of alcohol or drugs). As stress levels continue to grow, we are all pushed into shorter and shorter term thinking. Something equally evident in the behavior of both companies and countries alike. We begin to lose the ability to properly understand the implications of our actions.

As we cannot recognize the implications of our actions, then the outcome no longer becomes relevant. We are driven purely by short term ‘instant gratification’. We look for the quick hit and easy answer as that provides us with gratification far sooner. Whilst we might recognize that we would be better waiting or perhaps even avoiding altogether, we buy that car on credit, eat that second cream cake, drink that second bottle. We are doing this because we cannot see ourselves in the future.

The Place We Cannot See

As a society, this has become even more severe. Here the shortsightedness is not about us as individuals, it is about our children, other people, our towns and cities, the countryside, oceans and the creatures that inhabit them. On a day-to-day basis all of these are hard enough to see anyway, this is why we can read about starvation in another country just before we have a big lunch. Over the longer term, what is really invisible is the future of our children and our species. As we all go through our daily lives, consuming, buying, eating, how often do we consider the implications of those simple actions?

Once when we had to collect or farm everything we ate, tan or weave everything we wore, carve or assemble everything we used, we understood the proper worth of those items. Now, the activities we perform and the items we buy have no real sense of connected value in our minds. We assign them emotional values, but when they are gone, there is little difference as we move forwards. Many of the fundamentals (water, light, heat, protection) we simply take for granted.

So what can I do?

For the next couple of days, consider where the things you consume came from. Not just the food, but the packaging. The vehicles you use, the electricity and water you consume. The furniture you sit on, eat from. Start to see if you can identify how broad your own individual footprint is. Even something as simple as writing down all the source countries for the products you buy.

Then look at all the rubbish you create, how much is going to be recycled? How much of an effort are you making with separation (if your local system allows for that). What happens to your items which are just classed as rubbish? How can you produce less? (less rubbish out is the result of less resources going in. Every bag you don’t take and then throw away makes things a little more sustainable and a little less wasteful.

Looking for and finding steps you can take to reduce waste won’t just help the environment, you too can feel proud for beginning to consider 'The Place We Cannot See'.

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