Book Reading #34 - Obedience to Authority

Chapter 1
Summary
In this chapter the author gives an overview of his experiment and the reasons behind its implementation. For the most part the shocking experiment is conducted in order to understand the role of authority in the holocaust and its relation to the moral values of the general executing the tasks.

Chapter 2
Summary
In chapter 2 Milgram discusses the methods used to conduct the shocking experiment. He talked about the recruiting process as well as the participants (experimenter, teacher, and learner). The author also talked about a post-experiment discussion with the subject where he was explained that no harmed really occurred to the victim and the true purpose of the experiments (subjects were told at first that the experiment aimed to research learning instead of obedience).

Chapter 3
Summary
Milgram talks about people's prediction about the outcome of the experiment. He found out that whether the prediction was about the self or another group, interviewees believed that most people would stop at 150 volts (first request of the victim to be released).

Chapter 4
Summary
This chapter talks about all the variations of the experiment and the effect on its outcome. Milgram determines that the remoteness of the experiment has a big impact on the amount of disobedience; that it, the closer the victim is to the subject, the less likely the subject is to administer the maximum punishment. The author talks about a few reasons explaining why this occurs.

Chapter 5
Summary
In chapter 5 Milgram talks about some of the subjects that took part of the experiment. One person in particular had trouble understanding the experiment and seemed to be controlled by authority. While this subject blamed the experimenter for his actions, other subjects only blamed themselves for administering shocks even after the victim expresses his desire to terminate the experiment.