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

[ten-and-chips.livejournal.com]

(([falls over laughing]))

[miss-monochrome.livejournal.com]

::Comes into class and sees the collars on the desk... but thinks there's no way those are the kind of collars she thinks they are. The teach would never do that...::

::Sits down and sort of half-listens to what she's saying until CJ tells them what the collars are for. Then promptly freaks out.::

No! No frelling way are you getting me into one of those! ::has stood up at this point and has backed herself against a wall::

[http://users.livejournal.com/sydney_bristow_/]

"Um...Professor, can I sit this out?" Sydney asks. She's not sure that it's good for the baby, and everyone is going to figure it out eventually. "I don't know what kind of effect it will have on my child." she finally says, getting it out there. She feels beyond relieved now.

[prof-cregg.livejournal.com]

*She blinks* Child?

*Staring at Sydney, she finally smiles broadly* Of course you can be excused! I had no idea...congratulations!

[prof-cregg.livejournal.com]

*Sharply* CHIANA...Calm down! There is no reason for that outburst. You've been here, you know all these things are entirely voluntary. There is no reason for you to act like that in my classroom.

You are entirly welcome to leave. Or you can watch. I really don't care. Just be quiet.

[anextimeagent.livejournal.com]

Jack winces in sympathy to Chiana's panic; at a guess, it's really deep-rooted aversion rather than don't-wanna.

He walks up to the front and takes one of the collars. "Kinky," he says, and sees if anyone else is going to join him.

[prof-cregg.livejournal.com]

(([kinky, loves Chip]))

[oatmanspatient.livejournal.com]

[OOC: Grabs chair. Munches on popcorn. Waits for O'Neill to show up.]

[auroryborealis.livejournal.com]

"Professor, as per my earlier request...can I sit this out as well?" Rory asks nervously. "It'll keep the numbers even if Sydney's out too."

[dbiers.livejournal.com]

As she comes in, D'anna reads the board and is slowly filled with a sense of panic. She won't run, it's not like she's facing Amazons after all, but she's extremely uncomfortable.


[ooc: D will try to complete the exercise. She won't be able nor will she be able to explain her inablitly.]

[http://users.livejournal.com/sydney_bristow_/]

"Thank you." Sydney says. "I apologize, I just don't think it'd be a great idea." her face is a little red, the whole class knew now.

[wannabelawyer.livejournal.com]

[ooc: You're evil! I love it. We spent forEVER on this study in my sociology class freshman year]

*Lindsey stares at the collars for a moment and then gives CJ a disbelieving look. He's very unsure of what to do here.*

[miss-monochrome.livejournal.com]

::glares at CJ and then runs out of the room::

[dbiers.livejournal.com]

[ooc: to clarify, she won't be able to handle the 'being controlled' part. She'll get through the controlling part just fine.]

[prof-cregg.livejournal.com]

*Smiles gently at Chiana's disobedience and writes a note on a tablet on her desk*

[prof-cregg.livejournal.com]

No problem, Sydney. You can stay and watch, or go. Either is fine. *she writes something on a tablet on her desk*

[prof-cregg.livejournal.com]

Rory, I'm sorry, but with Chiana and Sydney out, I really need you to participate. Why don't you work with Chip?

[prof-cregg.livejournal.com]

Lindsey, why don't you get up here and get a collar and clicker and work with D'anna.

Nice job last night, by the way. Well spoken.

[prof-cregg.livejournal.com]

D'anna, why don't you work with Lindsey? You two can work out who gets the power first.

[prof-cregg.livejournal.com]

[Takes a handful and anticipates the *fun*]

[http://users.livejournal.com/sydney_bristow_/]

Sydney nods. "Thank you Professor." She leaves, keeping one hand on her stomach.

[auroryborealis.livejournal.com]

"Hi," Rory says, walking up. "I think we're partners for this." She shuffles her feet nervously.

[auroryborealis.livejournal.com]

Rory nods, figuring that 'Chip' was probably harmless. "Sure, Professor," she says, smiling.

[dbiers.livejournal.com]

D'anna nods to the professor and turns to Lindsey.

[wannabelawyer.livejournal.com]

Thank you.

Ma'am...what's the point of this? If the experiments already been done, why do it again? What do we get out of it? Just seems sadistic to me.