Nuremberg trials
The Nuremberg trials were a series of military tribunals after WWII where members of the Nazi party who carried out the Holocaust were tried for war crimes. The Superior Orders defense was used so extensively in these tribunals, the term has now become interchangeable with “the Nuremberg defense.” This defense asserts that a person cannot be held responsible for their actions if they were under direct orders from a superior to carry them out. In the Nuremberg trials, it was ruled that this was not a valid defense when charged with war crimes. It was certainly a sobering moment in human history for all to consider how far they were willing to go under orders of an authority figure.
Milgram experiment
Inspired by the Nuremberg trials, Yale University psychologist Stanley Milgram devised an experiment to measure obedience to authority figures. The subjects of the experiment were made to believe they were assisting in a study on how punishment affected a person’s ability to memorize information. The subject was instructed to give the “learner” a shock each time they gave an incorrect response. The subjects believed they were giving real electrical shocks to the other person, who in reality was an actor pretending to receive these shocks. The actor would increasingly protest as the imaginary shock voltage increased, to the point of crying out and banging on the wall for the experiment to stop. At the highest voltages, the actor would fall silent. If the subject hesitated in being willing to administer the shocks, the experimenter would reinforce the importance of them continuing with the experiment. Milgram learned that 65% of the subjects were willing to carry out the experiment until they had reached the maximum voltage of electric shock. Although every subject paused at least once to question the experiment, the majority of them were willing to continue when instructed to do so by the authority figure. This was certainly a shocking result. The 65% of subjects who continued to the end of the experiment believed that they had rendered an innocent person unconscious or potentially killed them, but were willing to do so because their instinct to obey authority was so strong.
Six years after the experiment, during the height of the Vietnam war, one of the former subjects wrote to Milgram explaining why he was thankful he had participated in the experiment:
While I was a subject in 1964, though I believed that I was hurting someone, I was totally unaware of why I was doing so. Few people ever realize when they are acting according to their own beliefs and when they are meekly submitting to authority ... To permit myself to be drafted with the understanding that I am submitting to authority's demand to do something very wrong would make me frightened of myself ... I am fully prepared to go to jail if I am not granted Conscientious Objector status. Indeed, it is the only course I could take to be faithful to what I believe. My only hope is that members of my board act equally according to their conscience.
Muhammad Ali resisting the draft
Muhammad Ali was the heavyweight boxing champion of the world in the golden era of boxing and has been ranked the greatest heavyweight boxer of all time. He was outspoken and oftentimes provocative which led to him becoming an icon. Mentored by Malcolm X, Ali converted to the Nation of Islam. In 1966 the requirements for draft eligibility changed and Ali was notified that he would be eligible to be drafted. He announced that he would refuse to serve in the US army as it was against his religious beliefs and applied for conscientious objector status. His application was denied and he was ordered to appear for induction to the US army in April of 1967. Although he did appear, he refused to step forward when his name was called. Immediately Ali’s boxing license was revoked and he was stripped of his title as heavyweight champion. He was convicted of the criminal offense of violating the selective service laws. He appealed his case and was allowed to remain free through the appellate process. Although he was barred from boxing, he began speaking out against the war around the country. By the time his case went before the supreme court, public opinion on the war had shifted and his case was overturned. Muhammad Ali was not only willing to resist authority but to put his entire life, career, and freedom on the line to stand up for his convictions. His actions had a major effect on public opinion and increasing pressure on politicians to end the war in Vietnam.
Who do you follow?
You are probably given “orders” to follow multiple times a day. Your boss will ask you to complete certain tasks, customers may have requests of you, your family members may ask you to do chores, even following a recipe when you cook. You can never escape following orders, but you can make a point to be conscious of making following orders a secondary reason for the choices you make. Your boss may ask you to complete a task. You choose to follow through on it because you understand and agree with the vision of the company and feel like that task is in line with that vision as well as an efficient use of your time. It is important to practice measuring the small every day orders you follow against your personal ethics, so you are prepared and willing to sacrifice, if necessary, to uphold your principles when more serious situations arise. Is doing something you believe in more important than how much money you make? Is how much money you make more important than spending extra time with your family?
The pull to blindly submit to authority is very strong and not only psychologically. There are oftentimes serious personal and professional consequences as well. What would it take to make you quit your job or risk getting fired? What lines, if crossed, would result in the ending of a personal relationship? It’s important to have clear boundaries in every personal and professional relationship, but these boundaries don’t come without consequences. It may not be as black and white as ending the relationship altogether, but deciding what is and is not worth fighting for requires serious talk and some negotiation.
It’s easy to look back on the Holocaust, the Milgram experiment, and the Vietnam war and perhaps picture yourself on the right side of history, standing up to authority and refusing to harm your fellow human beings. Don’t make the mistake of believing yourself to be harmless. These were not anomalies in history, but examples of harnessing natural human nature into a force for catastrophic destruction. The benefit of hindsight makes things easy to recognize, but even today, we see praise for government agents separating families, imprisoning peaceful people, or even killing. Recognize this nature also lies within yourself and stay vigilant. Take responsibility for every thought, word, and action and never simply follow orders.