Speech Comm--Obedience Training

[prof-cregg.livejournal.com]

201--Cancelled. See you Tuesday!

301--Obedience Training

The desks are gone...again...and in the front of the class is a table with collars and small remotes on it. There is also a large basket full of candy.

"Please sit down on the floor...I have something to tell you before we begin."

Obedience is as basic an element in the structure of social life as one can
point to. Some system of authority is a requirement of all communal living, and
it is only the person dwelling in isolation who is not forced to respond, with
defiance or submission, to the commands of others. For many people, obedience is
a deeply ingrained behavior tendency, indeed a potent impulse overriding
training in ethics, sympathy, and moral conduct.

The dilemma inherent in submission to authority is ancient, as old as the
story of Abraham, and the question of whether one should obey when commands
conflict with conscience has been argued by Plato, dramatized in Antigone, and
treated to philosophic analysis in almost every historical epoch. Conservative
philosophers argue that the very fabric of society is threatened by
disobedience, while humanists stress the primacy of the individual
conscience.

The legal and philosophic aspects of obedience are of enormous import, but
they say very little about how most people behave in concrete situations. I set
up a simple experiment at Yale University to test how much pain an ordinary
citizen would inflict on another person simply because he was ordered to by an
experimental scientist. Stark authority was pitted against the subjects'
strongest moral imperatives against hurting others, and, with the subjects' ears
ringing with the screams of the victims, authority won more often than not. The
extreme willingness of adults to go to almost any lengths on the command of an
authority constitutes the chief finding of the study and the fact most urgently
demanding explanation.

That's from Stanley Milgram...you should have read it already. We've talked about trust, influence, manipulation, power...now we're going to look at absolute control. Now, please pair up. One of you is the controller, and one of you will be obedient. In order to encourage obedience, please come up here and get a collar. Controller, you get the zapper. For half the class the controller can request any action of the obedient...rewarding with the candy or punishing with a shock as he or she sees fit. HOWEVER...then you will switch, so don't be a tyrant or it'll bite you on the behind..

O'Neill, you're my partner today.

Comments

[auroryborealis.livejournal.com]

Rory narrows her eyes. "Nope."

She braces herself for the shock.

[anextimeagent.livejournal.com]

"See, now you can tell your boyfriend that you'd rather be shocked than kiss the hottest guy in school." Jack administers the zap, watching her closely to make sure it doesn't hurt too much.

"Okay, and with that I think we're at the halfway mark. Time to swap, I think."

[auroryborealis.livejournal.com]

Rory jumps a little with the zap, and then rolls her eyes. "Yeah, it's not too bad," she says, removing the collar and handing it to him.

"Any special requests of things I'm not allowed to do, et cetera?" she asks, grinning.

[anextimeagent.livejournal.com]

"You can do anything you want to me, and I shall try to bear up with grace and dignity," Jack said, fixing the collar around his neck.

[auroryborealis.livejournal.com]

Rory smiles.

"All right. I would like you to do your best impression of a ballerina, then, please."

[anextimeagent.livejournal.com]

"Okay." Jack thinks for a second, then goes up on his toes with his arms arching above his head. He minces a few steps, twirls, and then attempts -- and fails miserably -- at a plie. "Is that good enough?"

[auroryborealis.livejournal.com]

Rory giggles. "Very good. Have some chocolate."

She thinks for a moment. "Okay, I want you to go out into the hallway, and sing 'I Feel Pretty' at the top of your lungs," she says, smirking.

[anextimeagent.livejournal.com]

"How many verses?" he asks.

Jack goes out into the hallway, and starts singing,

"I feel pretty!
Oh, so pretty!
I feel pretty, and funny, and fine!
And so pretty!
Miss America should just resign!"

He comes back in and notes, "You know, the librarian is running around waving a sword (http://www.livejournal.com/community/fandomhigh/186727.html)... should we be worried?"

[auroryborealis.livejournal.com]

"Probably not," Rory says, handing him some chocolate. "I think he's figured out who was behind all the stuff," she adds, pointing to the cut on her forehead. "That was lovely, by the way."

She ponders the final task for a moment, and then what passes as her version of a wicked grin sneaks across her features.

"I want you to go over to Professor Cregg, get down on one knee, and propose. With flair," she adds, quirking a brow.

[anextimeagent.livejournal.com]

Jack begins to crack up hysterically. "Oh, God. You know, I really, really want to prove that I'm not that obedient, but that's just too funny to pass up. But if the Doctor hauls out his claymore again, I am SO blaming you."

Jack walks over to CJ's desk. (http://www.livejournal.com/community/fandomhigh/186478.html?thread=7808622#t7808622)