Man Screams For Mercy As French TV Show Contestants Willingly Electrocute Him To Death...

Thomas · 03-17-2010, 05:20 PM

...and did so just because the presenter told them to.

Fortunately, the victim was an actor, but neither the contestants, nor the audience knew that.

The show, which airs in France tonight, was modelled after the Milgram experiment, and features the victim being shocked by the contestants while the audience chants "Punishment!" even though, at one point, he even appears to die.

To paraphrase one contestant, whose grandparents were tortured by the Nazis during WW2, speaking afterwards: "All my life, I wondered how the Nazis could obey orders to do such things. Yet, there I was, obeying them myself."

See: French contestants torture each other on TV Game of Death - Telegraph

And: France24 - Fake torture TV 'game show' reveals willingness to obey

And:

YouTube- Spoof game show shocks France

Mr. Enthusiastic · 03-17-2010, 05:51 PM

Human nature hasn't changed much in the past few decades. We still have to be watchful against the perversions that Milgram's study showed are all too enticing, or too fearfully addictive. On the positive side, we can use persuasive techniques studied a century ago to help us benefit others by selling what they are happy to own. The core principles of psychology, sociology and so on change much slower than our latest use of technology.

Paul M · 03-17-2010, 06:13 PM

This reminds me of a few other experiments.

Check them out here. 5 Psychological Experiments That Prove Humanity is Doomed

You can observe them in action pretty much all the time.

Even in this forum.

-Paul

Zabrina · 03-17-2010, 10:26 PM

In my psych class recently, we studied the Milgram experiments in-depth. Shocking examples of what humanity will do simply because an authority told them to do. And not just "other people", but average everyday people who wouldn't have believed they would fatally shock someone.

Another interesting experiment to look up is the Asch conformity study where he put a participant in the room with several confederates whom the participant thought were fellow participants. (How many more times can I use that word in the sentence?

) They answered questions about the lengths of lines, and the confederates all answered correctly for several questions. Then, every single confederate answered one question in a manner that was clearly wrong. With no obvious pressure to conform and no reward or punishment for getting answers wrong or right, conforming or non-conforming, 66% of people chose the wrong answer just to conform with the others. Now throw in coercion, reward and punishment, and you have the answer to many of humanity's atrocities.

All right, that's my heavy thinking for the night. Back to looking at cute pictures of kittens to cheer myself up.

Thomas · 03-18-2010, 04:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paul M

Check them out here. 5 Psychological Experiments That Prove Humanity is Doomed

Fairly depressing stuff.

John M Kane · 03-19-2010, 06:15 PM

I will not go into the details but, I know how the police coerced a confession out of someone that was total BS.
WWII has plenty of stories to show have Fn evil people can be. All they need it a little push.

domainarama · 03-19-2010, 11:49 PM

I know and studied with some of the experimenters of the 5 Psychological Studies. There is a tiny grain of truth in their work. But don't get too worked up. Almost all these studies were done with college undergrads who had to 'volunteer' to get class credit. There's a high factor of boredom and unreality among college student 'volunteers.' Do the same studies with other people with other motivations and things turn out different. You can get a study published if you get results, but if you do a study and get no results no one published your study and the world never learns when things don't work.

03-17-2010, 05:51 PM	#2
Mr. Enthusiastic Enthusiastic Warrior War Room Member Join Date: Nov 2009 Posts: 815 Blog Entries: 4 Thanks: 222 Thanked 224 Times in 170 Posts	Re: Man Screams For Mercy As French TV Show Contestants Willingly Electrocute Him To Death... Human nature hasn't changed much in the past few decades. We still have to be watchful against the perversions that Milgram's study showed are all too enticing, or too fearfully addictive. On the positive side, we can use persuasive techniques studied a century ago to help us benefit others by selling what they are happy to own. The core principles of psychology, sociology and so on change much slower than our latest use of technology.

03-17-2010, 06:13 PM	#3
Paul M Advanced Warrior War Room Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: United Kingdom. Posts: 963 Thanks: 870 Thanked 111 Times in 92 Posts	Re: Man Screams For Mercy As French TV Show Contestants Willingly Electrocute Him To Death... This reminds me of a few other experiments. Check them out here. 5 Psychological Experiments That Prove Humanity is Doomed You can observe them in action pretty much all the time. Even in this forum. -Paul
	"Almost all absurdity of conduct arises from the imitation of those whom we cannot resemble" -Samuel Johnson

03-17-2010, 10:26 PM	#4
Zabrina Writer & Student of Life! War Room Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Beautiful Canada. Posts: 759 Thanks: 226 Thanked 224 Times in 143 Posts	Re: Man Screams For Mercy As French TV Show Contestants Willingly Electrocute Him To Death... In my psych class recently, we studied the Milgram experiments in-depth. Shocking examples of what humanity will do simply because an authority told them to do. And not just "other people", but average everyday people who wouldn't have believed they would fatally shock someone. Another interesting experiment to look up is the Asch conformity study where he put a participant in the room with several confederates whom the participant thought were fellow participants. (How many more times can I use that word in the sentence? ) They answered questions about the lengths of lines, and the confederates all answered correctly for several questions. Then, every single confederate answered one question in a manner that was clearly wrong. With no obvious pressure to conform and no reward or punishment for getting answers wrong or right, conforming or non-conforming, 66% of people chose the wrong answer just to conform with the others. Now throw in coercion, reward and punishment, and you have the answer to many of humanity's atrocities. All right, that's my heavy thinking for the night. Back to looking at cute pictures of kittens to cheer myself up.
	Just released: Earn four figures during commercial breaks! Get it while it's hot! :)

03-19-2010, 06:15 PM	#6
John M Kane HyperActive Warrior War Room Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: In a Van Down by the River Posts: 456 Thanks: 44 Thanked 69 Times in 55 Posts Social Networking	Re: Man Screams For Mercy As French TV Show Contestants Willingly Electrocute Him To Death... I will not go into the details but, I know how the police coerced a confession out of someone that was total BS. WWII has plenty of stories to show have Fn evil people can be. All they need it a little push.

03-19-2010, 11:49 PM	#7
domainarama HyperActive Warrior Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: UWS New York City Posts: 190 Thanks: 114 Thanked 30 Times in 28 Posts Social Networking	Re: Man Screams For Mercy As French TV Show Contestants Willingly Electrocute Him To Death... I know and studied with some of the experimenters of the 5 Psychological Studies. There is a tiny grain of truth in their work. But don't get too worked up. Almost all these studies were done with college undergrads who had to 'volunteer' to get class credit. There's a high factor of boredom and unreality among college student 'volunteers.' Do the same studies with other people with other motivations and things turn out different. You can get a study published if you get results, but if you do a study and get no results no one published your study and the world never learns when things don't work.