Obeying Authority
Human beings are all born with free will and the ability to choose for ourselves which actions to undertake, however this ability has been modified over time as we are trained to obey figures who we perceive to have authority over us. This process begins in childhood when our first understood authority figures, namely our parents, inform us about what behaviors are appropriate within a given social context and which behaviors are inappropriate. We are trained to understand that behavior is contextualized by the social setting, by the characteristics of the population around us, and by our own the rules and regulations of the society as a whole. The way we are taught to behave is wholly dependent on our perceived authority figures. If there is an individual or group that we believe to have authority over us, then we internalize their orders and their versions of acceptable behavior. Conversely, if we reject the authority of another, then we will not believe them, and will reject their dictations about our behaviors. The ability and propensity of obeying orders has led to the creation of civilizations and the destruction of whole populations, to the apex of human endeavor and the depth of human failure. According to the chapter "Obedience to Authority," "If the conclusions of researchers are to be trusted, it is not psychopaths who kill noncombatant civilians in wartime and torture victims in prisons around the world but rather ordinary people following orders." Researchers Asch, Milgram, and Zimbardo all examined the intersection between free will and obedience and through their findings we can put together a composite of reasons why we obey authority, often overriding our own preferences.
As early as the 1950s, researchers including Solomn Asch were examining atrocities of modern history to try to understand how normal human beings could choose to commit acts which have been described as "evil." He found that any person's opinion could be easily modified by applying even the presence of an unseen authority figure, namely by attributing a position on an issue to someone who is generally held in high regard. The mere suggestion that the individual's own preferences are different from...
The characters of God, Stan, and Jesus are also significant in this epic and because they are considered valuable in their roles in the poem, we can assume that Milton found similar value with these characters in life itself. Through these characters, Milton is presenting not only a hierarchy but also a way in which things should operate. God's supremacy is unquestionable in this realm and demonstrated early in
In other words, the power and the wealth could easily fall in the hand of the few privileged ones, and their rights would be better served, than those of the marginalized, powerless and poor population (Paribatra, 1999). 6. Conclusions and Recommendations The section on the analysis of the issues at hand commenced stating that the purpose of the briefing paper was a simple one: identifying the positive or negative nature of
Human Sexuality and Homophobia Even in the wake of political correctness, homophobia still haunts many people in our culture. Heterosexuality is still the dominant social expression and any intimate relationship that falls outside the accepted boundaries of heterosexual union is considered to be taboo. The modern media and institutes of higher learning are only recently beginning to try changing the ingrained belief that heterosexuality is the only "normal" form of sexual
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history medical studies have concluded that prayer helps to heal the sick. Many political meetings begin with a prayer and American currency has the words "In God We Trust" imprinted on its face. Around the world God is a powerful deity and one that has historically led entire societies to make decisions based on God's word. While God has been the single deity that leads and guides societies in
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