Destructive obedience (John Campbell)

Stanley Milgram’s original publication

Predicted compliance was 0 to 3% (1.2%)

Actual number was 65%

Ordinary people can do bad things in the wrong context

We rationalise and diffuse responsibility

It’s not my fault, it’s that guy who gave me the orders, anyway, I’m just a small cog in a big machine I can’t control.

Beware of gradual escalation

That small compromise can lead on to the next slightly bigger compromise. Do not give moral compromise a ‘foot in the door’.

(Milgram’s machine had 30 graduations of shock, started at a mere 15 volts).

Okay, you don’t want to do that, well just do this little bit…

Well, you did that little bit last week, what’s the problem now?

Make no mistake, conscience can be blunted.

People carried on despite personal distress

The procedure created extreme levels of nervous tension in some …

A degree of empathy was possible, but overridden by conformity, (all had been given a 45 Volt demo shock)

Pressure of a situation

Do not let the pressure of people or a situation override your moral stance. Use your rational intellect to avoid confusion generated by others.

Authority can be wrong

An establishment that was once good can go bad. The power of an institution or state can be weaponised against the individual.

No matter how apparently credible the source it can be wrong. Academics, doctors, researchers can all be wrong.

Some academics, doctors, researchers can be bought.

Obedience to authority can override personal morality.

Feel free to appeal to absolute authority.

Do to others as you would have them do to you (Luke 6, 31)

The four standard prods

How many times have you heard these?

Sometimes our orders are explicit, other times much more covert

That which sound credible is often not

Milgram’s subjects were given apparently authoritative information on the relationship between learning and punishment,

We should challenge apparent axioms



The experiment showed that, given the right context, people tend to follow authority figures even when there were strong 'clues' that something was drastically wrong. The lesson is that people often do not reflect on what it is they are actually doing. They just do what they are told. The lesson is about not having a blind belief in authority, to think about what is going on around you, and to also have faith/courage in your own ability to reason. 

[Posted at the SpookyWeather2 blog, July 17, 2025.]