"It is ironic that virtues of loyalty, discipline, and self-sacrifice that we value so highly in the individual are the very properties that create destructive organizational engines of war and bind men to malevolent systems of authority. The aftermath of the Holocaust and the events leading up to World War II, had the world was stunned with the happenings in Nazi German and their acquired surrounding territories that came out during the Eichmann Trials. Could it be that Eichmann, and his million accomplices in the Holocaust were just following orders? Could we call them all accomplices?" (Stanley Milgram, 1960)
             Stanley Milgram, a psychologist at Yale University, conducted studies focusing on the conflict between obedience to authority and personal conscience. He examined justifications for acts of genocide offered by those accused at the World War II Nuremberg War Criminal trials. Their defense often was based on "obedience" - - that they were just following orders of their superiors.
             These hypotheses were explored in what is perhaps the most famous and controversial study in social psychology. Stanley Milgram hypothesized that his subjects will comply to his orders, regardless of their moral beliefs, because it is human nature to comply to an authority figure.
             In his study, the individuals show up for the study, they are told that they are participating in a learning experiment in which they act as the "teacher". And they are instructed to read a list of two word pairs and ask the "learner" (unbeknownst to them is a confederate) to read them back. If the "learner" gets the answer correct, then they move on to the next word. If the answer is incorrect, the "teacher" is supposed to shock the "learner" starting at 15 volts and going up to 450 volts, in 15 volt increments. The "teacher" automatically is supposed to increase the shock each time the "learner" misses a word in the list. Although the "t...