Are ordinary people able to do terrible things?
普通人能做出可怕的事情吗?
And if so, how many would give a strong electric shock to an innocent other,
如果能 有多少人会仅仅只为了遵守命令
just because they are following an order?
而对无辜的人施以强烈的电击呢?
To answer these questions, we can look at the controversial work of a man
为了找到答案 我们来看看一位先生为了找寻家人可怕经历的答案
who just wanted to find answers to his family’s horrific past.
所做的有争议性的实验
In 1961, Stanley Milgram, a young psychologist, wanted to find out
1961年 年轻的心理学家史丹利·米尔格伦想要知道
how ordinary citizens were able to commit acts of unspeakable evil in Nazi Germany.
纳粹德国的普通公民为何能够犯下难以启齿的恶行
His theory: some people do horrific things because they obey even the most wicked leaders.
他的理论是:一些人因为听从了最残暴的统治者而犯下骇人罪行
To test his theory,
为了证实他的理论
Milgram designed a clever experiment
米尔格伦设计了一个精妙的实验
that changed our understanding of human behavior forever.
永久地改变了我们对人类行为的理解方式
The Milgram Experiment involved 3 people:
米尔格伦实验包含三个角色
An authority, called the experimenter, who was dressed in a lab coat to appear powerful.
一位权威人士 即实验者 穿着实验服以示权威
A volunteer, who was assigned to be the teacher.
一位志愿者 被安排为老师
And a victim, the so-called student.
和一位受害者 即所谓的学生
The teacher was the test subject,
老师为测试对象
whereas the experimenter and student were both actors.
而实验者和学生都是演员
Following orders, the teacher should test a student,
老师要遵循命令去测验学生
who is sitting in another room, by asking them questions.
向坐在另一个房间里的学生问问题
For every wrong answer the experimenter would ask the teacher to inflict an electric shock
每回答错一次 实验者就会要求老师对学生施以电击
up to a life threatening 450 volts.
电击伏特数会随之提升到危及生命的450伏
Before he began,
米尔格伦在开始之前
Milgram asked his colleagues what they expected the outcome to be.
问了他的同事们 他们所预测的结果
Almost all of them agreed that only a few of the volunteers would obey
几乎所有人都认为只有少数志愿者会遵守命令
and inflict electric shocks on innocent others.
向无辜的人施以电击
What do you think?
你觉得呢?
Would anyone administer shocks higher than 300 volts?
会有人施以高于 300 伏的电击吗?
Milgram then advertised his experiment as a “study on memory and learning”
米尔格拉姆随后在耶鲁大学公布了他称之为
at the campus of Yale university.
“关于记忆和学习的研究”的实验
People signed up without any idea of what they were really getting themselves into.
报名参加的人并不清楚自己会陷入什么情形之中
The experiment began with the volunteers meeting the other participants.
实验开始时 志愿者会与其他参与者碰面
The volunteers then pulled a card to draw their role.
然后志愿者抽取卡片 来确定角色
Little did they know that they could only draw the teacher.
他们不知道的是他们只能抽到老师
Next, they would be given a sample of a light electric shock
接下来 他们将体验轻微的电击
in order to experience firsthand what the others would have to go through.
保证他们亲身体验了 其他人将要经历的
To start, the experimenter and the teacher were seated in one room,
首先 实验者和老师坐在一个房间里
and the student was strapped to a chair in an adjacent room.
而学生被绑在隔壁房间的椅子上
The Teacher and student were able to communicate, but not see each other.
老师和学生不能看到对方 但能相互沟通
The experimenter then gave the teacher a list of questions.
然后 实验者给了老师一张问卷
The teacher would then read out the questions
接着 老师会念出这些问题
and the student would press a button to indicate a response.
学生会按下按钮作为回应
For every false answer, the teacher would administer a shock,
每回答错一次 老师就会执行一次电击
starting at 15 volts and increasing in 15-volt increments up to 450
开始是15伏特 每次增加15伏 直至加到450伏
What the teacher did not know was that the student didn’t actually receive any shocks.
老师不知道的是 学生实际上并没有受到任何电击
Instead, a tape recorder was used to play various responses.
而是录音机在播放各种反应
In the beginning the teacher would hear protest, or bangs against the wall.
一开始 老师会听到抗议 或者撞墙的砰砰声
If shocks would increase the reactions would become louder.
如果加强电击 反应声会变得更大
And in case someone would go all the way,
如果有人一直执行电击
the learner would fall silent.
学生那边就会毫无声息
In case the teacher became hesitant and asked to stop,
如果老师犹豫并且要求停止
the experimenter would resort to the following four prompts.
实验者就会使用以下四种敦促方式
First, he would say: “Please continue”.
首先 他会说:请继续
If that was unsuccessful,
如果此举不成功
he would go on with: “The experiment requires that you continue”.
他会继续说:这个实验要求你继续
Then: “It is absolutely essential that you continue”.
然后说:“你必须继续下去”
And lastly: “You have no other choice; you must go on”.
最后说:你别无选择 你必须继续
Along the way, the volunteers displayed signs of extreme tension
过程中 志愿者会出现极度紧张的迹象
such as sweating, trembling, and even uncontrollable laughing fits.
比如汗流浃背 发抖 甚至失控的大笑
The experiment would be stopped
只有在四次敦促都结束
only after all four prompts had been used
或者电流提升至最大的450伏特并持续三次后
or the maximum voltage of 450 volts had been given three times.
实验才会停止
Milgram found that of all participants,
米尔格拉姆发现 在所有的参与者中
100% gave at least 300 volts
100%参与者都至少使用了至少300伏电压
and 65% went all the way to 450 volts.
65%的参与者一直加到了450伏
The experiment was later criticized for being unethical,
后来大家批评该实验是不道德的
because it deceived innocent people into performing what seem to be terrible acts of violence.
因为它欺骗无辜的人 让他们实施看似可怕的暴力行为
However, his experiment was successfully replicated many times,
然而 他的实验被成功地重复了很多次
involving different populations and leading to similar findings.
实验对象包含了各种人群 但结果都是相似的
Milgram himself left us with this to think about:
米尔格拉姆留给我们思考的是
It may be that we are puppets,
也许我们都是傀儡
puppets controlled by the strings of society.
受社会控制的傀儡
But at least we are puppets with perception, with awareness.
但至少我们是有知觉 有意识的木偶
And perhaps our awareness is the first step to our liberation.”
也许我们的意识是解放自我的第一步
What do you think?
你觉得你会怎么做呢?
Would you follow or question the orders,
如果你是米尔格拉姆实验的参与者之一
if you were one of Milgram’s participants?
你会遵循命令还是质疑命令
And what can we as a society teach future generations to help prevent horrific acts
作为社会的一份子 我们能教给后代什么来避免
that can happen when ordinary people blindly follow an authority?
当普通人盲目追随权威时可能发生的可怕行为呢?
Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
在下方评论中留下你们的想法
This and all other Sprouts’ videos are licensed under the Creative Commons.
本视频和所有其他 Sprouts 的视频均获得“知识共享”的许可
That means teachers from all around the world can use them
这意味着来自世界各地的教师
in classrooms, online courses or to start projects.
都可以在课堂 在线课程或教学项目中使用它们
And today, thousands already do!
而今天 成千上万的人已经这样做了!
To learn how it works
要了解如何使用
and download this video without Ads or background music,
并下载这个没有广告或背景音乐的视频
checkout our website or read the description below.
查看我们的网站 或阅读以下说明
If you want to support our mission and help change education,
如果您想支持我们的工作 并想帮助改变教育
visit our Patreon – that’s patreon.com/sprouts.
访问我们的Patreon 网址是patreon.com/sprouts
