Conscience: A Guide In Obedience - Essay Example

?Conscience: A Guide In ‘Obedience’ Introduction Every society in the world functions on the basis of cultural values, religious traditions, customs and morals. The cultural values and traditions are passed from one generation to another. Children learn the traditional and moral values from their parents and later, they pass on the same values to their children. As parents are elders and are authoritative figures in the family, children listen to them and follow their orders. In this way, the seeds of ‘obedience’ are sown right in the childhood. Obedience is considered a family and cultural value (Andersen and Taylor 79). Hence, hierarchy in the family and the society matters a lot. It is the hierarchy that decides who will listen to whom. Hence, the teaching that the orders of the elders, or the seniors, should be followed without questioning them gets ingrained in the minds of children at a very young age. This leads to the development of a subconscious habit to obey the elders, or the authoritative figures, without really thinking about the nature of the orders. Hence, obedience has become a matter of debate in the society. Through wars, holocaust and massacres, history has witnessed monstrous and torturous violent acts by people under the act of ‘obedience’ (Jarvis, Russell and Gorman 12). Hence, people should practice obedience only under good leaders and revolt against those leaders who ask them to do things that are against their conscience and human values. Definition Obedience is a positive thing when practiced with alertness. Obedience can be defined as “a change in behavior that is ordered by another person or a group” (Breckler, Olson and Wiggins 307). In the act of obedience, the individual is ‘ordered’ to behave and act in a certain way and hence, the action is done under the influence of other person and not under the influence of self (Breckler, Olson and Wiggins 307). Hence, there is an element of pressure and authoritative influence in case of ‘obedience’. There are many areas where practicing obedience is extremely beneficial. For example, people obey traffic signals and rules while driving, students obey their teachers (Jarvis, Russell and Gorman 12), pilots obey the signals given by traffic controllers and patients obey the directions given by their doctors. In these cases, obedience is desirable as it helps people in maintaining safety and harmony in their lives. However, there are many ways in which obedience can be manipulated. Milgram experiment In the year 1974, Stanley Milgram conducted a psychological experiment, known as Milgram Obedience Studies, which shocked the world (Andersen and Taylor 146). The aim of the experiment was to find out to what extend people can go against their own will to follow the authoritative orders (Andersen and Taylor 146). The experiment found a chilling truth that people are capable of acting in heinous and violent ways under the orders of authority (Andersen and Taylor 146). Milgram Obedience Study was conducted in a laboratory where the subject was told that it was a learning experiment and he was to act as a ‘teacher’ (Andersen and Taylor 146). The ‘learner’ was to answer the test questions correctly and if he answers wrong, then the ‘teacher’ was to administer shock to the ‘learner’ (Andersen and Taylor 146). Not only that, but it was also told to the ‘teacher’ that he should increase the intensity of the shock with every successive wrong answer (Andersen and Taylor 146).Before the experiment, it was believed by psychologists, sociologists, psychiatrists and philosophers that only one person in a thousand would administer a shock of 450 volt to the ‘learner’ (Andersen and Taylor 147). However, Milgram was shocked to find that even after watching the ‘learners’ (who were actually actors in disguise) suffer from pain and agony, the ‘teachers’ did not stop increasing the intensity of the shock (Andersen and Taylor 147). Moreover, Milgram found that even women did the same thing when he conducted the experiment to find if women behaved differently under the pressure of authority (Andersen and Taylor 147). This shows that people are capable of doing those things that they think they will never do, when they are under the pressure of authority (Andersen and Taylor 147). Hence, one can see human beings committing unbelievably monstrous acts under the reign of violent and evil leaders. However, one cannot deny the fact that there is some problem in human civilization which has caused human beings to practice obedience even when they know that the orders are morally and humanly wrong. The root of this problem is in the subconscious mind. The Subconscious aspect of ‘obedience’ Obedience is considered as one of the good values and a sign of cultural upbringing and hence, it is form of social influence (Breckler, Olson and Wiggins 307). Obedience is desirable as it leads to discipline and smooth functioning of social institutions and systems like education, religion, health, transport, judiciary etc (Newman 248). However, studies have revealed that the habit of obeying people in authoritative positions has led to many human miseries like wars, tortures, mass murders and massacre (Breckler, Olson and Wiggins 307). Hence, now it is understood that the act of obedience is not as desirable as it seems. Right from the early age, human beings are taught and commanded to follow the orders of their parents and teachers (Breckler, Olson and Wiggins 307). Moreover, in working class families, wives and children are forced by men to obey their rules and orders as it makes them feel masculine and strong (Shepard 284). This makes children relatively obedient and by the time they reach adulthood, they are subconsciously programmed to obey their seniors, authority, officials and people in uniform (Breckler, Olson and Wiggins 307). In this way, children learn to obey orders without questioning the nature of the order. This makes it easy for religious fundamentalist and political leaders to manipulate people into following their orders. The militant society is structured on the basis of obedience of the leader by his followers without questioning his motives and orders (Plummer 77). Moreover, in the act of obedience, people are asked to forget their own identities and consider their leader as their whole and sole. For example, when children learn obedience from their parents, it is impressed upon their minds that they are not capable of taking their own decisions and hence, should follow their parents. This obedience pattern continues in other areas of life. For example, nuns are expected to forget their own identity and obey the orders of God and abbess, by identifying with their personalities (Andersen and Taylor 97). In this way, human beings become a victim of social influence and under the pressure, become capable of acts that are unbelievably violent, inhuman and monstrous. Conclusion The literature review shows that obedience is desirable only if practiced with discrimination and intelligence. Otherwise, it makes human being a puppet in the hands of sadist and evil leaders. Hence, it becomes a responsibility of parents to teach their children to refuse to obey wrong orders even if they come from authoritative figures, and obey only those orders and commands that are agreeable to their conscience, as conscience is the only thing that can help people to behave in right and human way. Work Cited Andersen, Margaret and Howard Taylor. Sociology: The Essentials. 6th ed. Belmont: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2011. Print. Breckler, Steven, James Olson and Elizabeth Wiggins. Social Psychology Alive. Belmont: Thomson Wadsworth, 2006. Print. Jarvis, Matt, Julia Russell and Phil Gorman. Angles of Psychology. 2nd ed. Cheltenham: Nelson Thornes Ltd., 2004. Print. Newman, David. Sociology: Exploring the Architecture of Everyday Life. 7th ed. Thousand Oaks: Pine Forge Press, 2008. Print. Plummer, Kenneth. Sociology: The Basics. Oxon: Routledge, 2010. Print. Shepard, Jon. Sociology. 10th ed. Belmont: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2010. Print. Read More